The Storm
by AniuLonewolf
Summary: <html><head></head>It's all because of one storm and one fight that make Inu and Kag realize that they love each other.. final battle with Naraku, encounter with Kikyo and what happens when the Jewel disappears.. InuKag MirSan Apologizes for the mess, currently editing</html>
1. A Feudal Fairytale

Thank you all for checking out my fanfiction - The Storm. This story was started back in 2005 and was my very first fanfiction. To celebrate and to thank everyone who has reviewed and read my stories, I am now taking the time to reread through the entire story and fixing up any errors and revising anything that I can. I hope you really enjoy this new 'version' and please review - your kind words mean so much to me.

Just to start off I would like to say that I do not own Inuyasha and all the credit of this fabulous anime goes to Rumiko Takahashi for bringing life to the story. I just took the storyline and created my own ending. I do not own Inuyasha but I do own this story so please respect it.

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 1 – A Feudal Fairytale

Most fairytales start with the words "Once upon a time".

Most fairytales tell of a brave, handsome prince on an epic quest to save the young beautiful princess who is awaiting his rescue. As the prince fulfils his quest, the young princess awaits in a tower, waiting and dreaming for the day that her prince comes to rescue her.

Even though they do not know each other - probably haven't ever set eyes on each other until the moment the prince saves the princess - they know that they are each other's one true love.

But this story isn't a typical bedtime story, for it won't start with "Once upon a time". It does however; speak of an epic quest and a tale of love.

It tells of a young, handsome man named Inuyasha. But this young and handsome man is also stubborn, arrogant and doesn't know much in the way of manors.

It does also speak of a young, beautiful girl named Kagome. But this girl is also stubborn and tends to butt heads with the young man.

Bedtime fairytales always speak of the prince and princess being in love from the moment they meet – but what if the first time they meet, the so called 'prince' tries to attack the 'princess' in attempt to steal the one thing that would make him much more powerful.

This story takes place in Feudal Japan – but also in Modern Japan, for the young girl is capable of traveling through time. It tells the story of how the young handsome man and the young beautiful girl take part in a quest to rid the land of evil and along the way learn to cooperate with each other and maybe along the way learn to fall in love with each other.

After all, Inuyasha is far from Prince Charming.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	2. It All Began with a Fight

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 2– It All Began with a Fight

Thunder rumbled through the valley, lightning danced through clouds as rain fell down in hard sheets, forcing all the forest animals to take shelter in the trees. The families of the village at the bottom of the mountain were sheltered from the storm in their homes. Mothers tucked their children into their beds, telling them bedtime stories while the fathers of the house listened in the doorway as he admired his family.

The sky was black with nightfall; the only source of light was the frequent flickers of lightning dancing through the clouds. A small soft light could be seen through the rain; a small fire coming from a hut on the outskirts of the village, near the forest. It was in this hut that we find our heroes and where our story starts.

The first to speak was a young woman dressed in a pink and green kimono. "We need to act now; Naraku won't be staying in this area for long. He'll want to keep moving to search for more jewel shards." This young woman's name was Sango, the demon slayer of the group. While she sat on the floor in front of the fire, she absentmindedly stroked the fur of her demon cat companion Kilala, who was sleeping in her lap.

"This will probably be the only chance we will be able to corner Naraku at his castle," The man sitting next to her on the floor spoke up. He was dressed in purple and black robes for he was Miroku, the monk of the group. While he talked, he played with the rosary around his right hand. The beads on his wrist were the only thing holding back the Wind Tunnel curse, hidden beneath the purple glove he wore. "We can't waste anymore time." He said, Sango who was sitting beside him nodded in agreement to his statement.

"Well…" The other woman started to say, too afraid to lift her voice over a soft whisper. She kept her brown eyes on the glowing fire as she played with the tail of the little fox demon who napped in her lap. "I have an important test in a couple of days back in my time. I should really go home and study for it." She sighed as she continued to play with the fox demon's tail. The little kitsune, whose name was Shippo, have a little snort in his sleep and curled more up in the girl's lap.

It seemed like it was only yesterday that it was Kagome's fifteen birthday – even though it was well over four years ago. The day of her birthday changed her life forever when she discovered the ancient well on the shrine grounds that her family ran.

But this well wasn't any normal well; the Bone Eater's well as it was called held a magical power that pulled her into the past – 500 years into the past to be exact. Kagome was now nineteen years old and she was very surprised that she had made it to grade twelve, even with all the school she had missed.

The group of humans heard a growl coming from the corner of the hut. A man got up from his sitting position and walked up to the rest of the group around the fire. His long silver hair reached down to past the small of his back and it was like the colour of the moonlight that was hidden behind the clouds. But if it wasn't the silver hair that caught your attention, it was the triangular silver dog ears that rested atop his head or his golden eyes that reflected the light of the fire. The man, Inuyasha, was a half demon; born of a mother who was a mortal human and a father who was a dog demon.

"Why do you always have to leave? We're so close to finally getting Naraku and you have to go and take off to that stupid era of yours." Inuyasha growled as he crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes glowing with silent anger.

The schoolgirl from the future looked up at the silver-haired half demon that was standing across the fire from her. _'__Why does he always have to be like this?__'_She thought to herself and let out a sigh. "Maybe you don't need my help anyways Inuyasha. I won't be much help except getting in the way."

"Feh," was all that came from the silver haired half demon.

"What's that supposed to mean Inuyasha?" The little fox demon Shippo asked. No one had noticed that the little kitsune has woken up until he had spoken.

"It means little one, that Inuyasha doesn't want Kagome to home. But it also means that he does not want her to get hurt." The old woman spoke up as she served supper. The elderly woman was Keade, the priestess that watched over the village and aided the group in their travels.

"I didn't mean it like that, ya old hag!" Inuyasha barked, fisting his hands at his side. But while he growled, he cursed the old woman for knowing him so well.

"Then what did it mean?" asked Kagome with hurt evident in her voice. She hated getting into fights with Inuyasha, and she could feel that there was another fight about to start. With the stress of Naraku's evil looming over their heads, it seemed that Kagome and Inuyasha got into more fights as the days went on.

Inuyasha turned his gaze from Keade to the young priestess from the future. "It just meant that we need you to find the shards that Naraku has," He sorted through his words, looking down at the fire instead of looking at Kagome. "We can't find Naraku's shards without you. You're the only one that can find them."

"Well maybe you could find Kikyo and asked her to help you. I'm sure she's just wandering around here somewhere. It wouldn't be that hard for you to find her and I'm sure she would be much more of a help them I am." Kagome snapped back hotly.

Sango and Miroku watched from their places on the floor as Kagome and Inuyasha continued to argue. And when Kagome brought up Kikyo they both took a sharp intake of breath and drew very still. They both knew that when Kikyo was brought up in an argument, it was only going to get worse.

Kikyo was the young priestess who used to protect the village from demons who searched for the sacred Shikon no Tama, or Jewel of Four Souls. The young priestess and the half demon had history together and had developed feelings for each other before a terrible demon named Naraku turned them against each other; leaving Kikyo fatally wounded and Inuyasha pinned to the God Tree in an enchanted slumber for 50 years.

Inuyasha huffed and stuffed his hands in his sleeves of his haori. "I'm sure she would be more help than you would," He agreed curtly, tilting his head to the side to look at Kagome sideways. "Kikyo wouldn't run off when we were so close to finally getting Naraku."

At what the half demon said, Kagome stood up, knocking Shippo off her lap. She glared at Inuyasha angrily from across the fire and yelled, "That's all you care about isn't it? Kikyo and that stupid jewel! Go ahead and find Kikyo! And then when all of this is over, you can go ahead and go to Hell with her!" And with that she ran out of the hut and into the rain.

Miroku, Keade and Sango all looked at the door where the angry girl ran out and then turned to look at the arrogant dog demon that made her run out in the first place. Inuyasha's expression showed anger but also a hurt expression; for that was the first time Kagome told him to go to Hell with his ex-lover.

"Smooth move, dog-breath!" Shippo yelled from where he fell on the floor when Kagome got up. He always hated it when Inuyasha made Kagome mad or sad – which happened quite frequently.

_WHAM!_

"Owwwwww!" cried Shippo, rubbing the big bump on his head that Inuyasha just gave him. "You meanie, why do you always have to go and make Kagome mad? Sometimes I wonder why she even comes back when you just go and make her upset again."

"Shippo does have a point Inuyasha," Miroku said, his voice staying calm though his expression was tired. It happened almost every time they discussed Naraku; Inuyasha and Kagome would get into a fight and Kagome would run off to the well to go back to her time. "Kagome might not come back now, and you know as well as we do that we can't do this without her."

"So go and say sorry," Sango said as she sent her own glare at Inuyasha, her dark purple-maroon coloured eyes reflecting the fire's light. "We need her with us and you know it." Her words were intensified by a large flash of lightning from outside.

Inuyasha's expression darkened; he hated being ganged up by everyone. But he lowered his eyes before turning to the window. The half demon knew it was his fault that Kagome had gotten upset and ran away. Keeping his growl low, he looked out the window just when a flash of lightning lit up the sky.

o-o-o-o

The forest was black from the moon being hidden by the clouds. The rain pelted down and felt like it could cut through her skin as Kagome ran into the forest. She kept running, her eyes stinging from the rain and her tears, her feet stumbling over the tree roots, her arms being cut by sharp tree branches but she didn't care – she kept running, not caring about where she would end up.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," She told herself out loud, her breath coming out in short bursts as she pushed her legs to carry her away from the village. "How could I be such an idiot and actually fall in love with that arrogant jerk? He doesn't care about me; he loves that walking pile of clay!"

It was true; she was in love with the half demon that she had left back in the hut. She didn't know when it first started to feel like she was in love with him; at first he kept her around out of convenience since she could see the jewel shards and she followed because it was her fault that the jewel broke in the first place. But then after traveling with Inuyasha for some time, she then realized that she had started to develop strong feelings of love for him.

But why? Why did she have to fall in love with someone that fought with her, someone who loved someone else?

A flash of lightning lit up the night sky as she ran through the forest. _'The thunder and lightning remind me of when we first met Shippo and helped him fight against the Thunder Brothers,'_ Kagome thought to herself as she let out a sigh mixed with a sob. _'And when I fooled Hiten and Manten that Inuyasha loved me.'_

:.: Flashback :.:

"Now hand over the shards of the Shikon Jewel. Or you'll never she your lover alive again!" Hiten yelled and lightning flashed through the stormy sky to intensify his threat.

"See my lover?" Inuyasha repeated from down below on the ground while Hiten, Manten and the captive Kagome floated above him.

'_Some people just can't take a joke.' _Kagome thought as she saw Inuyasha's blank face from where she was floating in the cloud with the younger of the Thunder Brothers.

"Um there must be misunderstanding," Inuyasha started, walking closer to the Thunder Brothers. "Let me get this straight, you and I are supposed to be lovers?" He asked as he looked up at Kagome with a very questioning look on his face.

"This is no time to get all shy." Kagome said nervously. Great, he was going to ruin the plan.

"You little vixen, I knew you were fibbing." Manten said, giving Kagome a noogie where he sat next to her on the cloud.

"You actually think I'd hand over the shards as a ransom to get you back?" Inuyasha yelled angrily.

"Of course because that's what a lover would do." Kagome shot back, looking down at Inuyasha. She had told the Thunder Brothers not to kill her because Inuyasha was in love with her and would hand the shards over to get her back. She thought he would be able to see her plan and go along with it to save her - guess not.

"Well we ain't lovers. And without love, the whole argument kinda falls apart." Inuyasha yelled back.

"So now some little gems are more important than me? How dare you say that after all we've been through together! In the meantime, you better admit to yourself how much you really love me." Kagome said, pointing her finger at him.

:.: End Flashback :.:

_'How could I be so __stupid,' _Kagome's mind yelled at her. _'I've been traveling with him for four years now and I should know better than to start that fight again. He's in love with Kikyo and there's nothing I can do about it.'_

The lightning flashed again and Kagome tripped on a root and fell to the wet cold forest floor. She looked up and saw that she tripped on a root from the God Tree.

The tree was so special to her; it was the one tree that surpassed the time differences and stood tall and strong in her own shrine's property while it also stood here, 500 years in the past. She had many memories of the tree when she was growing up, playing under its shade, sitting underneath the leaves to think. She had many pictures of growing up with the tree; happy pictures like when her brother was born, sad memories of when her father had passed away.

This tree had memories for Inuyasha as well. Memories of when Inuyasha and Kikyo were tricked by Naraku and Kikyo pinned Inuyasha to the tree with her arrow, putting him under a spell that made him sleep for fifty years – until Kagome had found him and broke the spell.

She got up and sat on an uprooted root, hoping that the tree would give her some shade from the rain. _'This is the first place I met Inuyasha. When he was pinned to this very same tree,'_ She thought to herself as she ran her hand down the old bark and then sighed. '_He thought I was Kikyo...'_

o-o-o-o

Inuyasha stood at the door of the hut. He tried to keep it from the human's eyes but he was leaning towards the exit of the hut. He took slow and deep breaths to try and use his keen sense of smell to catch Kagome's scent.

'_Damn rain,__'_ He inwardly growled. _'__I can__'__t pick up her scent.__'_ He could feel that the storm was growing worse, the rain was starting to come down in hard sheets and the wind was making even the strongest trees bow in its force.

He was getting worried about Kagome. She had been gone for a while now and with the storm getting stronger, his imagination was getting the better of him and he was imaging her hurt somewhere in the forest. What if a demon, walking through the storm had come upon her? She left her bow and arrows in the hut; she wouldn't have been able to defend herself.

He suppressed another growl, knowing he should be out there looking for her. But part of him made him stay back – after all, it was his fault that she ran away. It was his fault that he couldn't shut up about Kikyo. Kagome was really upset this time, more upset than previous fights they had. He doubted that Kagome would be happy to see him so soon after she ran off. She needed time to cool off.

Shippo knew better than the humans, being demon himself he knew that Inuyasha was making silent steps towards the door. "Even if you went through the forest, tree to tree, what makes you think that she would come back to you? Or even answer you if you called out her name?" The fox demon spoke up, from behind Sango so that if Inuyasha were to strike, the demon slayer would stop him.

Inuyasha heard the fox demon's comment and turned around to glare at him. "What did you say?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"Why would you go after her anyway?" Sango added, picking up on Shippo's plan to make Inuyasha angry. Because when Inuyasha would get angry he would no doubt, go after Kagome. "You'll just make her even more mad." She said, not meeting the dog demon's eyes and played with Kilala's tail.

"What if a demon were to find her?" Inuyasha questioned. "Aren't you worried that she could get hurt?"

"Of course _we_ care," Keade spoke up. "The question is if ye care enough to protect her?" The old woman turned his words around.

"And why are you worried in the first place?" Shippo spoke up again. "You keep calling her your 'Shard Detector'. Kagome's right – you should just go find Kikyo." Shippo's voice wavered at the end, knowing that if he mentioned Inuyasha's past lover he would surly get a smack. He hid more behind Sango for protection.

"Shippo has a point Inuyasha; you always go and run after Lady Kikyo," Miroku spoke up this time. "You hurt Kagome more and more every time you run away."

"NO!" Inuyasha yelled, rocking the hut into silence. Shippo, Miroku, Sango and Keade fell quiet to wait for the dog demon to say any else.

"'No' what?" Sango asked, looking up at Inuyasha this time.

Inuyasha let out a very loud and angry huff that drew the others to his direction. He turned around to glare at the group that sat around the fire. He struggled with himself to just blurt out the words that he wanted to. _'__No, I care about Kagome,__'_He wanted to say to them. _'__She showed me friendship and she doesn__'__t care that I am a half demon.__'_

But he felt his pride and stubbornness stop him from saying those words that he wanted to say. But having those thoughts suddenly run through his mind, he realized something so important. He suddenly realized something that everyone was trying to show him and he was just too blind to see it; He didn't love Kikyo – he loved Kagome!

Sango, Miroku and Shippo just sat around the fire and watched Inuyasha's face change from anger to questioning to sudden realization.

But his thoughts were running away from him control and showing him all the stupid things that he had done. Kikyo didn't love him for who and what he was, not like Kagome. Kikyo wanted human, to use the Shikon Jewel on him so _she_ could be a normal woman. Inuyasha thought he loved her but it wasn't real love.

His memories flashed before him, sitting with Kikyo on the hills above the village, just sitting, sometimes talking. It wasn't love; it was just something that was mistaken for love – that was why Naraku was able to make them hate each other so easily.

"And even after all the crap you two have been through Kagome had always stayed by your side," Sango murmured, almost mirroring Inuyasha's thoughts. "Even after all those other times you made her upset."

All of these realizations were coming at him too fast that it was giving him a headache. But it wasn't just a headache, it was heartache for he knew now what his heart was telling him – he loved Kagome.

There wasn't much time, either Kagome has already gone to her own time and locked herself up in her room or worse, she could have gotten hurt or lost. He had to go and find her – and tell her the truth.

Without saying a word to anyone else, Inuyasha suddenly dashed out into the rain, leaving the rest of the group watching in question.

"I guess he finally came up with an answer," Miroku smiled and passed around the bowl of soup that was being served for supper.

Sango looked down at Shippo and gave him a pat on the head. "Very cleaver little kitsune," She smiled at she gave him a high-five.

"It's about time Inuyasha figure out his feelings for Kagome," Shippo smiled triumphantly as he looked out the door that Inuyasha had run out from.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	3. Realizations

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 3 – Realizations

Even with the rain making his sense of smell weaker than normal, it was still easy to find Kagome. It didn't take him long to find her at the base of the God Tree. Her back was turned to him but he could see that she was cold – for she was only in her high school uniform. Stupid girl always forgot to bring a coat.

But his feet faltered on the branch he was crouched on, in a tree a few feet away from the branches of the God Tree. He was sheltered from the rain in the healthy tree he was perched in and he could clearly see that Kagome was shivering. Thunder rumbled through the skies as lightning danced in the clouds. His mind was running over things to try and say to her, how to apologize. But he was scared she was going to reject him.

After coming to the realization that he loved Kagome, he was suddenly so afraid that he had messed up his chances of telling the girl. Before he realized his feelings, how many times did he argue with Kagome over stupid things? How many times did he run to Kikyo, and still expected Kagome to be there when he came back?

o-o-o-o

Kagome was getting cold. Even with the tree sheltering her from the rain, it still didn't give her any warmth. She wrapped her arms around her legs, bringing her knees up to her chin and closed her eyes, thinking that if she didn't think about the cold, she would just be numb to the wind. That was until something suddenly fell over her shoulders and her head. She looked at her arm and her eyes widened when she saw red.

"Inuyasha?" She whispered.

"Yeah it's me," His voice came from behind her. She turned around and saw him leaning against the trunk of the tree. "You shouldn't be out here Kagome, a demon could've attacked you and you're probably going to get a cold from being out here in the rain."

"Hmph. Why do you care?" She said crossing her arms in front of her. But even though she was keeping up the angered act, she couldn't help but note that the tone in his voice has changed - it was softer. Either his was softer, or hers was colder from the anger that was still pent up inside of her from their fight. Or maybe both of their voices had changed. "Anyways, I twisted my ankle and resting it before I go home."

Inuyasha sighed and slowly pushed himself away from the trunk of the tree and walked around to kneel in front of her. But when he looked up at her, he saw that she was soaked to the bone and also that she had been crying. Something in his chest ached when he saw the shape she was in – for it was his fault that she was out here in the middle of a storm and crying. It was his fault.

"Kagome," He started, trying to keep eye contact with her. But she kept her eyes on the roots of the tree, not wanting to look at him. He could see from the little glimpse of her eyes that they were burning with the rage their fight had left her with. "I wanted to apologize for the fight earlier. I never take into consideration the troubles you go through, trying to live in both worlds."

Kagome's eyes snapped up when she heard what he was saying. Inuyasha apologizing? It was practically unheard of for the half demon in front of her to say he was sorry. She looked up at him and saw that his eyes were lowered, almost covered by his soaked white bangs. It had shocked her so much that she almost couldn't form any words but she regained herself and a small smile formed on her lips. She reached a hand up, her fingers suddenly aching to touch him but after a moment to think about what she was about to do, she let her hand drop to her lap.

"I don't have a family anymore Kagome," Inuyasha continued on, his words shocking Kagome once again. He never opened up to her about his past or anything about him so hearing his thoughts and feelings out loud were something new. "I don't have anyone to miss me, so I forget that you do. You have a family on the other side of the well and I should have realized that you would probably want to go see them before we went to our final battle with Naraku." He looked up at Kagome, his golden eyes glowing on their own, not needing a light source like the moon. "I'm sorry Kagome."

Kagome's heart was quivering in her chest. She took in a shaking breath and smiled warmly down at the half demon kneeling in front of her. Her anger was gone, washed away by his kind words. There was Inuyasha in front of her, his haori around her shivering frame, his white undershirt soaked through from the rain but he didn't show a shiver.

"Thank you Inuyasha." She whispered, her voice unable to grow in volume. Her body suddenly rocked with another shiver and she pulled the haori more around her but she kept her eyes on the half demon. "Thank you for understanding that I have to go home now and then." She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "I don't like fighting with you."

"I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused because of my stupidity." He whispered back.

Three times? Inuyasha apologizing not once, but three times in a matter of minutes. Kagome couldn't help herself and reached her hand up, resting it under his bangs on his forehead. "Do you have a fever? You're not acting like yourself."

Inuyasha gave a slight growl and pulled away from her hand, his eyes burning. "Will you try and be serious, because I am!" His voice softened. "I just -." He gave a frustrated growl. "I've realized that I've been causing you so much grief every time I argue with you about going to your time. We're so close to getting Naraku and I don't want to leave anything unsaid."

Kagome's brows met in the middle in a slight frown. "What are you saying? You're starting to sound like you're on your death bed."

"Well, we don't know how this fight is going to end. I don't even know if we stand a chance against him, he has almost the whole jewel. He's going to be so powerful…."

"Inuyasha, stop." Kagome cut him off with a stern tone in her voice. "I think I know where you're taking this and I'm not liking it. You're not going to die. No one is going to die in this fight with Naraku. I won't let it."

Inuyasha took a moment to let the almost proud feeling swell in his chest. He hadn't ever taken the time to observe and admire how much Kagome had grown; physically stronger with her priestess powers and talent in using a bow and arrow and also emotionally. When they had first met, she was screaming and running away from monsters five times bigger than her and now she was speaking with such strength as they were about to head off to battle Naraku.

"I just… I've realized how I've been acting towards you." Inuyasha spoke, his eyes catching another tear roll down Kagome's cheek and a shiver rock through her body. "I have much to atone for. A lot of my past has been following me around I guess." He tried to say with a light laugh.

But Kagome's eyes darkened. "Yeah, in the form of a dead-but-not-dead woman." Kagome's voice was dark but Inuyasha could see another tear roll down her cheek. But before she could reach up to wipe it away, Inuyasha raised his hand to softly rub the tear away from her cheek.

"I hate seeing you cry Kagome," The half demon whispered, his fingers lingering on her cheek. "And I hate that I'm the one who always makes you cry."

"Weither it's us fighting or not, I'm always crying because of you." Kagome whispered, adverting her eyes from Inuyasha, looking down at his hand on her cheek.

Inuyasha pulled back as if he had been electrocuted. "W-Why?" His heart sped up in his chest. This was the fear he had felt in the tree tops before going up to Kagome. He was scared that Kagome wouldn't return his feelings for all the mistakes he had made in the past.

"Because if I'm not crying because we fight, I'm crying every time you go off to Kikyo because I know I can never be with you." She hiccupped, placing a hand on her lips as if to hold back a sob in her throat.

Inuyasha's eyes widened at her confession and his hands seemed to move before his brain could react. His arms wrapped around her shivering shoulders and pulled her to his chest. "Kagome, do you remember when we were fighting Kaguya and she was locking away my human heart?" Inuyasha asked as he held Kagome to him.

Kagome's eyes were wide from Inuyasha pulling her into a hug. Over the four years of travelling, they didn't have much contact other than riding on the half demon's back, Inuyasha catching her from falling or pulling her out of danger. Hugging was a close contact that only happened a handful of times along their travels. But she was shocked again when he asked her his question.

Of course she remembered that fight with Kaguya, the princess from the moon. Her magical mirror was locking away Inuyasha's human heart, making the half demon transform into his demon side and become Kaguya's slave.

Kagome could feel the blush rising on her cheeks as she also remembered the only way she could save Inuyasha from becoming fully demon was kissing him. It was their first kiss, and one that Kagome drifted off in her daydreams about.

"Remember what I said after you saved me from transforming?" Inuyasha asked, holding her just as he held her after he was free from Kaguya's hold.

"You said you would stay half demon for a while long, just for me," Kagome whispered, her tears falling down her cheeks and onto Inuyasha's already wet undershirt.

"I would stay a half demon for you if you wanted," Inuyasha's voice rumbled in his chest where Kagome's hands where curled trying to keep warm.

Kagome pulled her head away from his chest to look in his eyes. "I thought you wanted to become a full demon." That was why he was after the Shikon Jewel in the first place. Inuyasha had been through so much in his life; his mother being hated for being in love with a demon, her son Inuyasha not fitting in anywhere. Humans feared him for his power and strength but didn't accept him for his dirty demon blood. Demons looked down at spat on his human side, his weakness and being lower than them.

"You've shown me that I don't have to choose," Inuyasha said, his fingers reaching up to brush a stray wet strand of hair away from her face. "Kikyo wanted me to change into a human. And I thought the only way I could be powerful if I was a full demon. But you've shown me who I really am. Even if everyone else thinks I'm only half a life – half human and half demon. You were the only one who has made me feel whole," He took a deep breath and locked eyes with the girl in front of him. "And I love you for it."

Kagome's eyes were tearing up at the brief inside look of how Inuyasha felt about his life but her heart stopped beating when she heard his last words. "What?" Was all that came from her mouth.

"These past four years being with you, in our adventures of finding the jewel shards and meeting Miroku and the others, the two of us have been through a lot. I don't know what's going to happen when we fight Naraku but I wanted to tell you now," He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "That I love you Kagome and I'm so sorry for being so stupid and blind to what was going on right in front of me."

Kagome still stayed quiet, Inuyasha's words rendering her shocked.

Inuyasha's heart started pounding again, scared that she was about to reject him. All of his life he had been rejected. No one wanted to be with him for who and what he was. Kikyo wanted to change him so he was human, demons looked down on him for being half human – no one loved him for who he was.

He was about to backtrack his words, "But if you want to return to your world after we defeat Naraku, you don't have to -"

His words were cut off when Kagome crashed into his chest, hugging him. "Inuyasha, I love you as a half demon." She silently cried, repeating the words that she said to him in Kaguya's castle. "You may be stubborn, thick headed and have a hot temper but I love you the way you are." She murmured into his chest but Inuyasha could hear every word perfectly.

"Kagome," his words came no louder than a whisper as he hugged the girl from the future. "Thank you."

Kagome pulled away just slightly to look up at his golden eyes. If she could name one thing about Inuyasha that she loved it would be his eyes, second would be his dog ears on the top of his head. "I wouldn't change anything about you." She whispered as she leaned closer to him, her eyes turning from his eyes to his lips.

Their lips touched in a soft, almost afraid kiss. A kiss shared between them had only happened once during the battle with Kaguya and never again but it was something that drifted in their thoughts from time to time. Inuyasha was afraid of kissing her too hard would hurt her. Their lips moved together, getting used to the feel of the kiss and overcoming the fear of hurting each other.

Kissing underneath the God Tree, Kagome would have thought that this was a dream. The only thing that reminded her that it wasn't a dream was that in her dreams they wouldn't be kissing in the middle of a hurricane that was still raging around them. The wind blew their hair around their faces as they kissed and the wind almost blew Kagome from her feet if Inuyasha wasn't holding on to her.

When the need for air was greater than their kiss, the two pulled away. They stood there for a moment, still holding each other close as the rain fell down on them.

"I wouldn't change anything about you," Kagome repeated what she had said before their kiss as she reached up and ran a finger over one of his white fuzzy dog ears on the top of his head. But she had to giggle, "Except your stubbornness. You could be a little more reasonable from time to time."

Inuyasha gave a gruff laugh, but couldn't contain the swelling that he felt in his chest. His heart was fluttering from the wonderful feeling of confessing to Kagome and sharing a kiss with her.

A crack of thunder echoed through the sky, making Kagome jump and reminding them that they were standing out under a tree in a severe rain storm.

"We should probably get back to the hut. You're soaking wet." Inuyasha chuckled as he pulled a strand of wet hair away from Kagome's face.

"What are you talking about? You're wet too." Kagome laughed, running her fingers through Inuyasha's long wet silver hair.

"Yes, but I'm also half demon and I won't get sick as easily as you will," Inuyasha pointed out, putting his hand on Kagome's forehead, checking for a fever. "We need to get you dried off. I can feel that you're getting a fever."

With that said, the two were about to make their way back to the village when Kagome gave a gasp out in pain. Looking down, she remembered that she had hurt her ankle in her run to the well. Without saying anything, the half demon picked up the raven haired girl.

Holding her bridal style, Inuyasha and started walking back to the hut to get some dry clothes and be by the warm fire. "You're probably going to have one nasty cold in the morning." Inuyasha said as Kagome wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's neck.

"I'm not going to get… ahh ahh achooo!" Kagome was cut off in her sentence by sneezing.

"Sick?" Inuyasha finished for her with a smirk.

"Hmph" Kagome pouted, resting her head on Inuyasha's chest but not before letting out another sneeze.

Inuyasha only gave a slight chuckle before picking up his walking pace to get back to the village. "Who's being stubborn now?"

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	4. Going Home

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 4 - Going Home

Lightning flashed above, dancing in the dark clouds as the thunder soon chased after it in loud cracks in the sky. The rain didn't let up, pelting the green leaves above in the trees.

Inuyasha had taken a path that was sheltered under think healthy tree branches so they were protected from the bulk of the rain, just getting random drips that escaped the leaves.

Wearing the half demon's haori as he held her, Kagome couldn't get herself to stop sneezing and she soon a headache was starting to rock her head.

"Aahhh... achooo!"

"Bless you." Inuyasha whispered down to her as he pulled her closer to him. Even though pulling her closer to him probably wouldn't help her become warmer since he was soaked to the bone himself, he tried to make her comfortable for the remaining travel to the village.

"Thanks." Kagome said, cuddling closer to Inuyasha's chest and trying to suppress a shudder from the cold. "Are we there yet?" She didn't remember the forest being this big. Shouldn't they be at the village by now?

"We'll be there in a minute. I took a longer route but under thicker trees to shield from the rain." Inuyasha explained and just as he finished his sentence the trees broke away to reveal the sleeping village.

When they got to Keade's little hut they found that the fire was put out and that everyone had gone to bed while they were gone. Though there was very little light, Inuyasha's demon eyes could pick up just enough light to be able to see perfectly. He sat Kagome down on the wooden step and sat down beside her and placed one of his clawed hands on her forehead. "Shit Kagome, you're burning up!" He whispered.

Kagome let out a very tired sigh and rested her head in her hand as she looked down at the floor. She wrapped Inuyasha's haori around her for more warmth but since it was wet, it did little. "I don't feel so good."

Inuyasha ran his fingers through Kagome's wet hair and then got up, soundless on his feet. He walked over to one of the corners of the hut where Kagome's big yellow backpack was and swung it over his shoulder. "Well it looks like we're going to take a visit to your era."

Kagome looked up from her head in her hands with a questioning look on her face. "Huh?" Wasn't the entire fight not even an hour ago about how Inuyasha didn't want Kagome to go home?

Boy, he must have had one hell of a revelation to be so easily open to taking her home. The thought brought a smile to her face.

Inuyasha walked back over to Kagome and picked her up to carry her bridal style while her backpack was over his shoulders. "I'm going to take you home so you can rest 'til you get better," He kissed her lightly on the forehead again and walked out of the hut and into the rain. "I'm sure your era's medicine will help you get better faster."

This time the half demon took the direct route, taking to jumping through the limps of the trees. Since they were already wet, he didn't bother to take the route with thicker branches to get away from the rain, instead he wanted to get Kagome back to her time as quickly as possible.

He didn't slow down when he got to the Bone Eater's Well and jumped into the well and into the glowing cloud that took him into Kagome era. When he got to the other side, he jumped out and into the little shrine that housed the time traveling portal.

Opening the door of the shrine, he found the same monstrous storm raging in Kagome's time as in his. The well connected the two times, the same area just 500 years difference. So it was no surprise to see the same weather in both times.

Inuyasha could feel through his haori around Kagome that her fever was starting to rise so he wasted no more time to run through the rain, across the courtyard to Kagome's house. Seeing a light on in the house, Inuyasha knew that someone was home.

"Just go through the front door," Kagome said, still in Inuyasha's arms. "It would be too awkward to go through my bedroom window. And I wouldn't want my family to think someone is breaking into the house." Going through Kagome's bedroom window was the usual route Inuyasha took to get into her house.

Trying to be quiet, Inuyasha was trying to balance Kagome in one arm while trying to get the door when the door moved by itself. The woman who stood on the other side of the door was Kagome's mother.

"Oh hello Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi answered in surprise when she saw the half demon at the front door. "Kagome, what brings you home?" She asked her daughter in a kind, soft voice as she saw Kagome in the half demon's arms. "Is everything ok?"

Inuyasha beat Kagome to explanation as she had to sneeze again. "We were out in the rain. Kagome twisted her ankle and she's caught a fever."

"Oh." Was all Kagome's mother said at first and stepped to the side to let Inuyasha through the door to bring Kagome in the house. "What were you doing out in the rain?" She asked her daughter.

Again, Inuyasha took to explaining as he sat Kagome down on the step to remove her shoes. "It was my fault that she was out in the storm. We had a fight and she ran out. I followed after her but she had been out in the rain long enough to get a cold."

Kagome just sat on the step as Inuyasha explained to her mom why she was sick. She took her wet socks off and saw that her ankle was actually turning purple from a bruise that she got from hitting the tree root. "It's ok. We're not fighting anymore," She told her mom, seeing a smile on Inuyasha's face from the corner of her vision. "I'll get over this cold in no time." And with that, she sneezed.

"Well let's get you warmed up."Mrs. Higurashi smiled and let Inuyasha carry Kagome upstairs to the bathroom where her mother ran a warm bath for her daughter.

While Kagome was in the bath, Inuyasha followed Mrs. Higurashi into the laundry room to put their wet clothes in the dryer. While his haori and undershirt where in the dryer, Inuyasha was stuck walking around in Kagome's house shirtless.

"Well I'm just glad that she has you to look after her." Kagome's mother smiled sweetly at the silver haired dog demon as she opened the door to Kagome's room.

Inuyasha tried to smile back but he couldn't. He was too busy pondering over the woman in front of him. She didn't say anything about the argument that he spoke of and he couldn't understand why she wouldn't be mad – it was his fault in the first place why Kagome was in this situation.

When Mrs. Higurashi turned on the lights in Kagome's room, Inuyasha just stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do. Any way he turned in her room, his nose would pick up the scent of Kagome. Her bed was made with unwrinkled sheets; Kagome hadn't slept in her own bed in weeks for she was in Inuyasha's time, sleeping in a sleeping bag by the fire.

Inuyasha didn't want to stay in Kagome's room by himself so he followed Mrs. Higurashi down the stairs to the kitchen. "Thank you Inuyasha, for bringing Kagome home." She said, turning on the stove. The woman was quiet for a moment but then gave a small sigh, "Although, it might not be her home for much longer." She murmured with her back to Inuyasha.

But the dog demon's ears picked up her mumbling and looked up with a confused face. "What do you mean?"

Mrs. Higurashi turned around from the stove to look at the confused half demon. "What are your feelings towards my daughter?"

Inuyasha faulted for a moment, thinking that this was the moment that Kagome's mother was going to freak out. Of course, she had every right to freak out – why should she let her daughter be with a half demon, someone who puts her in danger every moment that she is with them. He was a danger to her. But the tone in her voice was still just as soft, sweet and loving as always, no hint of anger.

The silver haired boy gulped and felt his cheeks heat up. "I uh..." He couldn't get the words out.

"Do you love her?" Mrs. Higurashi questioned softly. She still had that motherly smile on her face.

He was still unable to find his voice for a moment and just gave a nod. "Yes – I do love Kagome." He said quietly, happy that he was finally able to find his voice again. But hearing the declaration out loud was something new to him. Yes saying those words to Kagome was a huge, pivotal step but telling her mother made his heart burst into a sprint.

Mrs. Higurashi's face broke into a wide smile and she took a step forward towards Inuyasha. "Did you tell her this?" She asked. She could remember all those times that Kagome came home with tears in her eyes and she fully knew what the reason for those tears were - her love for the dog demon. Now, to hear that very same dog demon state his love for her daughter broke a big smile to her face.

All Inuyasha could do was nod a 'yes'.

Mrs. Higurashi's face still showed that of almost nothing less of pure happiness. "And she told you that she loved you as well?" She questioned, remembering to stir the soup.

Inuyasha's face had both surprise and confusion written all over it. "How did you...?"

He continued to look at the woman, his golden eyes sparkling with curiosity as to how she knew everything about the situation. "She told me awhile back that she loved you," She explained. "She just wasn't sure if you loved her back."

Inuyasha's heart shuddered for a moment. How many times did Kagome cry over him? How many times was she hurt because of her feelings for him and he still had feelings for Kikyo? All of these questions slapped him in the face. His eyes met the floor, unable to look at Kagome's mother. "And it doesn't bother you that I am a half demon?" He asked.

"Of course it doesn't matter," Kagome's mother smiled warmly as she walked up to the half demon. "Kagome loves you for who you are, not what you are and the same goes for the rest of her family." She smiled, placing a soft hand on his folded arms.

Inuyasha let a smile break through on his lips. How long his ears had wished for those words to be spoken to him. "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me." All those years growing up without his mother, not being able to fit in anywhere, he had finally found a place and a family that accepted him.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled up at Inuyasha as he smiled down at her. "I trust you to protect Kagome. You two have been through so much these past four years. I know she will be very happy with you."

Inuyasha nodded, his smile staying on his face as he watched Kagome's mother return to the stove to stir the soup. There was a moment of silence as Inuyasha listened to the rain falling outside, the wind blowing around the house and Kagome's absentminded humming coming from upstairs.

"But I do have one question..." Mrs. Higurashi suddenly started, bringing Inuyasha back from his thoughts.

Inuyasha braced himself for screaming, yelling, rejection. It was a reaction that he developed ever since he was little. The natural reaction when someone started freaking out about what he was.

"When you have children, you will come and visit us right?"

Inuyasha gulped down a lump in his throat. The question completely took him for surprise and he was at a loss of words yet again. "Um... uh..." He gulped and let it out. "If we do, then yes, we will come." The blush on his face deepened until it almost matched the same shade of his haori pants.

But while Inuyasha was off in his own thoughts, blushing about the idea of having children with Kagome, Kagome's mother's eyes were so bright and shiny with daydreaming stars. "Oh I'm going to be a grandmother!" She exclaimed happily.

Inuyasha sweat dropped. _'Yeah...'_ But she was in such a happy mood that he just let it go. Plus he was kind of daydreaming about the idea himself. _'Me with Kagome? Having pups?' _He smiled and looked over at Kagome's mother, who looked like she was in a daze of giddiness.

"I wonder if they will have cute dog ears like you, Inuyasha." She said, turning back to the soup with the stars still twinkling in her eyes.

But the half demon in the kitchen didn't answer for he was too lost in his own daydreaming world.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	5. Sleep in My Arms

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 5 - Sleep in My Arms

Inuyasha was leaning against the wall, listening to the soft pitter-patter of the rain, lost in his own thoughts. Since that little talk with Mrs. Higurashi, he felt like he finally had a place to belong. It was something so new to him, having people who cared about him and not wanting him to change. He had never been truly accepted for who he was, not since his mother had died.

Since he was little, demons have wanted to get rid of the half breed that looked weak in their eyes and humans wanted him away from their families to protect them from his strength because he was a freak. He had learned not to look too ahead in the future; he had to live in the moment, in the present. Be one step ahead of the enemy or he could die. And with no one to love him and show him kindness, he never wanted to daydream about any future because he knew it would only be a future of being alone and being hated.

But then something caught his ears' attention, snapping him out of his own thoughts and back into reality and to the present – to a possible future to look forward to.

Footsteps.

Looking over at Mrs. Higurashi, he smiled to himself as he watched the woman dance around the kitchen, grabbing different spices to put into Kagome's soup. He was thankful to Mrs. Higurashi for being so accepting of Kagome's travels to his time and being so understanding of his feelings for her daughter. In the short conversation he just had with Kagome's mother, she was able to put so many of his doubts to rest.

His ears perked up once again when he heard a sound come from the other room. Opening his senses to the questionable noise, his ears hearing the snuffling, his noise picking up a scent and in that moment he knew who it was. It was Kagome.

Inuyasha pushed himself off from the wall and walked over to the stairs. Just like he thought, there was Kagome. She was coming out of the bathroom with a pair of green pajamas on, rubbing her wet hair with a towel. She was turning to the stairs when she caught sight of Inuyasha and smiled.

Mrs. Higurashi had followed Inuyasha out of the kitchen and into the living room where the stairs led up to the second floor. When she saw her daughter, she went back to the kitchen to get the soup ready for Kagome to eat.

Inuyasha stayed at the bottom of the stairs, watching Kagome who was about to walk down the stairs. His keen noise could pick out that her fever hadn't gotten any better and she still had a distinct scent layered in hers that told him she was still sick. His eyes also caught the purple bruise on her ankle just below the pant leg of her pajamas.

"Have a good time with my Mom?" Kagome asked, pulling her hair up in the towel and took the first step on the flight of stairs. "Hope she didn't bother you too- mu- ahhhh… ahhchooo!" Her sentence was cut short when another sneeze came.

Inuyasha watched as her balance was thrown off when she sneezed. But he could see that on top of her fever, she had taken a very warm bath and was flushed. The sneeze brought on a sudden headrush and Kagome lost balance, losing her grip on the railing.

Acting quickly when he saw she was in danger, Inuyasha darted up the stairs just in time to catch Kagome in his arms.

Her eyesight had gone black with the headrush and she thought for sure she was going to fall down the entire flight of stairs. But instead she fell into the slightly hard and warm chest of the half demon that caught her. Looking up, she met the concerned golden eyes of the half demon that caught her. "Thanks Inuyasha. You're always there to catch me." She said faintly as she rested her spinning head on his shoulder.

"Any time." He whispered, wrapping his arms around her so he could help her get down the stairs safely.

"Oh, goodness! Kagome, you should take an easy while you're not feeling so well," Mrs. Higurashi walked into the living room to see Inuyasha helping Kagome down the stairs. "Why don't you come into the living room and you can have your soup."

Kagome nodded and headed over to the couch, Inuyasha sitting beside her and watched her mom place the bowl of soup on the table in front of her. Kagome thanked her mother and picked up the bowl of soup, spinning the spoon around in the hot liquid. While Inuyasha sat beside the raven haired girl, he could see that her face was still flush, and she let out a couple coughs before taking a spoonful of soup. The towel had fallen from her hair when she almost fell down the stairs, leaving her long black hair damp and flowing down her back.

"Did you want anything to eat or drink Inuyasha?" Kagome's mother asked the half demon and was answered with a silent shake of his head saying he didn't need anything. "Will you be ok for tonight Kagome?" Her daughter gave her a nod and she looked back at Inuyasha. "Will you be spending the night?"

Inuyasha didn't say anything at first, not wanting to intrude if Kagome didn't want him around anymore. He looked at Mrs. Higurashi and then at Kagome for an answer.

Kagome met his questioning gaze and smiled and then turned to her mother. "Yes, Inuyasha will be spending the night." She saw again from the corner of her eye that Inuyasha's face broke into a small smile.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled down at the two on the couch. "Ok well I'm going to go to bed now. Get to bed after you're done your soup. Goodnight you two." And with that, she turned and walked up the stairs to her bedroom, leaving the two alone.

After Mrs. Higurashi left, it became very quiet. All they could hear was the rain outside, the clock ticking on the wall and the clang of Kagome's spoon against the bowl.

Inuyasha was looking at the pictures on the wall. There were some of Sota, Kagome's younger brother playing soccer. Some were of Kagome with her mother and grandfather. There were two pictures of Mrs. Higurashi and a guy he had never met before. Inuyasha guessed that he was Kagome's father because Kagome had his smile. They were dressed up; Mrs. Higurashi in a big white dress and was holding flowers and Mr. Higurashi was in a black suit.

It was their wedding. That got Inuyasha thinking. _'Should I ask her?' _A sneeze from Kagome snapped him back to reality. He looked over at her and smiled. _'I'll ask her when she's feeling better.'_

Kagome wasn't hungry. She was just playing with the soup. _'My life is so different from before my 15th birthday. None of my friends at school would ever believe me,' _She smiled, thinking about her birthday three years ago. _'That day was the best thing that ever happened to me,' _She looked over that the silent half-demon sitting next to her. He seemed to be preoccupied looking at the wall of pictures. _'If Buyo had never gotten lost in the well house, then I wouldn't have been pulled down by Mistress Centipede. Then I would never have met Inuyasha.'_

As if he heard his name in her thoughts, Inuyasha looked over at Kagome. "You sure eat slow." He said, teasingly. He kept his voice down, no wanting to wake the rest of the family but also not wanting to startle Kagome. The atmosphere in the living room seemed to be heavy with silence that it felt like he couldn't raise his voice.

Kagome looked down at the bowl in her hands. "I'm not really hungry." She admitted in a low murmur.

"Then do you want to go to bed? It is late. And your mom is right; you need your rest to get better."

She nodded and got up from the couch, followed by Inuyasha. She walked into the kitchen and put the bowl by the sink. Then she left the kitchen and came back into the living room, heading for the stairs. She was about five steps up the flight of stairs when she saw Inuyasha was still at the bottom of the stairs. He was just standing there, looking almost like a lost puppy, not knowing where to go.

"Umm, Inuyasha?" At her voice, he looked up at her with his golden eyes shining in one of the soft lamps that were kept on so no one would fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. His eyes were almost glowing. She took a moment to just look into his eyes. His eyes where one detail that she would never forget but at the same time, never be able to memorize. "You can sleep in my room if you want."

"You sure?" He got a nod from her. "... Ok." He said, and followed Kagome up the stairs. When they got in her room, she went looking in her closet, looking for a futon for Inuyasha.

Her closet hadn't been touched in months, not since she found her giant yellow backpack and sleeping bag. After all, that was all she really needed from the closest when she went back and forth to Inuyasha's time. There were so many things in this unkept closet; she had no idea where the extra futon would be. "Damn. Where is that stupid thing?" She said digging through the closet, throwing clothes all over the room.

"Umm… Kagome?"

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha who was standing behind her and when she saw him, she giggled. She had thrown things all over the place in the search for the futon that she had thrown a shirt right in the half demon's face. "Sorry." She giggled as she took the shirt from him.

Inuyasha folded his arms over his still bare chest. "You know, you don't need to get me anything."

"Mmm?" She asked, as she continued to look through the closest.

He smiled, "It's not going to bother me to sleep sitting on the floor." He said gruffly. He had been out on his own for so long, it almost made him uncomfortable to be cared for so much. And plus, it wasn't like he didn't know how to take care of himself.

Kagome turned around and looked up at the half demon. "But…" She started but was cut off when Inuyasha smiled down at her. "It's one night you don't have to sleep on the forest floor on the wood floor of a hut. I just want you to be comfortable."

"Don't sweat about it," He shrugged, placing his hand on Kagome's shoulder. "You're sick, you need your rest. It's not going to kill me sleeping on the floor for the night. I do it all the time."

Kagome scowled up at Inuyasha and then looked down at the floor. "I don't think that would be very comfortable."

Inuyasha signed, smiling softly down at Kagome. "You're so stubborn," He laughed, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Just go get ready for bed." He turned her back to the door, pushing her towards the bathroom.

While Kagome was gone from the room getting ready for bed, Inuyasha cleaned up the mess Kagome made while search of the futon. When he finished cleaning the room, he waited for Kagome to come back. Sitting on the carpeted floor of her bedroom, Inuyasha tried to lean against the walls in one corner but it wasn't very comfortable. So he tried leaning a different way against the wall but still, couldn't get comfy.

Kagome walked into her room, her mouth feeling minty fresh from brushing, to see Inuyasha trying to find a spot to sleep on her carpet. "I'm telling you, that's not a very comfy place to sleep."

"Well it's raining. I can't go sleep out in the tree outside your window." Inuyasha sighed, lightning outside proving his point.

"I would never ask you to go sleep outside." Kagome's face showed a frown as she walked up to the half demon, grabbing his hand and pulling him up to his feet. Before her brain could think of what she was doing, she pulled Inuyasha over to her bed, pulling him up onto the mattress.

They were quiet for a moment, just sitting there looking at each other. Both of them in bed together, it would be very hard not let your thoughts go in that direction.

But Kagome broke the silence by yawning and Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh. "Lay down Kagome, you need your rest." He whispered as he pulled the blankets up to cover Kagome as she lay down, resting her head on the pillow.

Swallowing, Inuyasha looked down at Kagome's frame underneath the blankets before settling down beside her. At first he tried to stay the farthest away from Kagome, leaning on the very edge of the bed. He lay there, surrounded by Kagome's scent, listening to her breathing slow and even out.

Soon, Kagome was asleep and Inuyasha was still awake. He could hear all the noises from Kagome's house; the big box downstairs that held the food hummed, the snoring of Kagome's grandfather on the other side of the house, but Kagome's breathing was what he focused on.

Letting out a soft sigh, Kagome suddenly rolled over, throwing her arm over Inuyasha's chest. Even in her sleep she was completely comfortable with Inuyasha in her bed and she cuddled up to him, letting out a soft noise in content.

Inuyasha stiffened when she rolled over and got close to her. But a smile appeared on his lips when he heard her murmur his name in her sleep. As he laid his head down on the pillow beside the sleeping girl, he couldn't help but let out a yawn, suddenly feeling really tired. With one last intake of breath to surround Kagome's scent around him, he relaxed beside Kagome and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	6. Shopping

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 6 - Shopping

The next morning, birds sung sweetly in the trees outside as the sunlight peered in through Kagome's window in her room. Kagome and Inuyasha were both laying in Kagome's bed, both with peaceful expressions on their faces as they were both still lost in their dreams wrapped in each other's arms.

_*R R R R R I I I I I N N N N N G G G G G !*_

The sudden shrill from Kagome's alarm clock broke the peaceful silence that filled the room. The ear-splitting scream of the alarm clock sounded right beside the sleeping couple.

The poor dog demon wasn't expecting the sudden loud noise and he jolted away with a gasp. He thought it was something attacking them and he jumped up to defend himself and Kagome - only to fall off the bed and onto the floor, Kagome landing on top of him.

_*R R R R R I I I I I N N N N N G G G G G !*_

Kagome got up off of Inuyasha and hit the alarm clock on the head to turn it off - but the button was broken and it wouldn't turn off and continued to get louder and louder.

"Why won't it turn off?" Inuyasha yelled, his hands clamped over his ears as it sensitive sense of hearing were in agony. His eyes were wide in fear from the scream of the alarm.

"What!" Kagome yelled back at him, unable to understand what he said since the alarm was getting louder and louder.

"WHY WON'T IT TURN OFF?" He yelled louder, his golden eyes still wide as he got up to stand beside Kagome but leaned away from the alarm, his ears protesting against the noise.

"WHAT!" Kagome yelled back, trying multiple times to slam on the alarm to turn it off but to no avail.

"WHY... oh forget it!" Inuyasha yelled, grabbing the clock out of her hands, opening the window and chucking outside. It hit the pavement and smashed into little pieces.

The atmosphere went silent once more, except for the ringing in Inuyasha's ears and he knew the start of a headache was coming any minute now.

Kagome leaned out the window to see her alarm clock splattered against the pavement, pink chunks of plastic everywhere. She turned back to Inuyasha with an angry look on her face. "Inuyasha! You broke my alarm clock... again!" Remembering the past events where her alarm clock was murdered.

Inuyasha looked at her. "That stupid thing wouldn't shut up," His ears twitched. "And my ears are still ringing."

Kagome sighed, oh well - it was just a cheap alarm clock. It can be replaced. She walked up to Inuyasha and looked up at him with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was set." She looked back down at the dead clock on the pavement below. "I wonder if it had been going off every morning while I was gone."

Inuyasha looked down at Kagome and saw that she looked sad that it was her fault. Not wanting her to continue to be sad, he just rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Plus, it's not like that was the first time. Right?" He looked down at her with a slight smile.

Kagome smiled up at Inuyasha and then took a seat on her bed. "Yeah, I remember. That was the time I went home after the fight with the Birds of Paradise and you got mad about Koga." She looked down at her lap.

:.: Flashback :.:

Kagome sat down beside Inuyasha on the grassy hill. She had to get this fight done and over with, she hated fighting with Inuyasha. "Well, uh, Inuyasha..."

"Ok, I'm sorry." He grumbled to her.

"Huh?" She was taken totally by surprise. This was probably the very first time that he said that to her.

Inuyasha looked over at Kagome and saw that she was staring at him. "Why are you staring at me like that? Your still holding a grudge aren't ya?"

"Oh no, I'm not mad anymore. I'm just shocked that you actually came out and apologized first. I really appreciate it." Kagome smiled up at the sky, looking at the puffy clouds in the sky.

Inuyasha stuck his hand into his haori and pulled out a busted alarm clock. "You sure?"

"Is that what you're apologizing for? For breaking my alarm clock?"

He looked away, "I got nothing else to apologize for."

:.: End Flashback :.:

There was a sudden soft knock at the door and the two jumped apart. Kagome quickly turned around and opened the door to see her mother standing there with a smile on her face.

"Good morning you two," Mrs. Higurashi said sweetly from the doorway. She saw that both of them had messy hair and they looked tired. "I didn't wake you up did I?"

"No you didn't, the alarm clock woke us up. Oh... speaking of that." She gave a short glare at Inuyasha and then turned back to her mother. "I need a new one."

"Again?" Her mother asked, remembering that this wasn't the first time that Kagome had to get a new alarm clock because of the dog demon.

Kagome turned to look back at Inuyasha who huffed and then she turned to look at her mom again and laughed, "Yeah."

"Ok." Mrs. Higurashi smiled, not worrying about the situation. "Well how are you feeling this morning?"

Kagome blinked at her mother for a moment and then realized why she had come back to her time in the first place. She had gotten a fever being out in the rain. Remember? "Oh yeah, I'm feeling much better," She looked down at her ankle and saw that the swelling as already been reduced to nothing but a yellowing bruise.

"That's good to hear. Well if you want we could go to the mall after you're done eating." Mrs. Higurashi offered. "We could also get Inuyasha some new clothes while we are in the mall, if you're feeling better."

Kagome looked at Inuyasha who sat beside her. "Do you want to go?"

The half demon took a moment to think it over. He figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal since he knew it would make Kagome happy. "What about school?" He questioned. The whole reason they got into the fight in the first place was that Kagome had a test she needed to study for. Remember that?

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." Kagome looked up at the ceiling with her finger on her chin in thought. "Well the test isn't until tomorrow morning so we can go to the mall after lunch and then when we come back I can get a bit of studying done. Then I can go take the test in the morning and then come back home so we can go back to your time."

Inuyasha thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Fine," He said and earned a smile from Kagome.

"Ok. We'll leave after lunch." Mrs. Higurashi said and she turned to walk down the stairs.

"Oh Mom," Kagome called after her mother. "What are we having for lunch?"

The woman thought for a moment. "Ramen," She said simply and continued down the stairs. She heard Inuyasha's cry for joy and she let out a giggle and went to the kitchen.

"Oh yeah!" Inuyasha said, punching the air happily.

Kagome turned to face the half demon who had a very happy smile on his face. "Is that all you like from my time?" She asked, shaking her head at the half demon's affection for the instant noodles.

Inuyasha looked at her and gave her a smirk. He seemed to be contemplating something and then he slowly walked up to her and grabbed her by the waist. "Nope," He said and caught her lips in a quick kiss but pulled away before she could respond to the kiss. "You are the best from this time. By far."

Kagome had been shocked, still not getting used to the idea of them being together after their confession last night. But she smiled up at the half demon, both of them had a tinge of blush on their cheeks, neither of them fully used to the fact that they could be so open about their feelings.

But suddenly the phone rang, snapping both out of their trance. Inuyasha jumped, not used to these common future era noises. Kagome walked into the hallway and picked up the phone and put it up to her ear. "Good morning, this is Kagome."

"Hello Kagome," A male voice came from to the other line.

"Hojo?" She questioned, recognizing the voice of the guy in her class. Why would he be calling her, shouldn't he be in class? She looked over at where her alarm should have been to check the time, only to growl in frustration at remember that it was now smash among the pavement.

"I was just calling to check in on you. I saw that you weren't in class again today and wondering if you were doing alright." He said on the other line. She could hear the stuttering in his voice. He was nervous about something. "I was also wondering if you were feeling up to it, that I could treat you to some herbal ice cream after school today."

That was the thing he was nervous about asking her. "Oh... Well…." Kagome bit her lip. She hated being in these kinds of situations. How would she be able to let him down without hurting her feelings? "Well… I, urm…"

"That is, if you're feeling better," Hojo said. "Your grandfather told me that you were in bed with the plague."

Kagome almost fell over at what Hojo said. Her grandfather was lying to her school, telling them that she was suffering from bizarre and crazy illnesses to cry and cover up her absences due to her being in Inuyasha's time. She made a mental note to yell at her grandfather to dial down the severe illnesses – her classmates were probably planning her funeral memorial as she spoke!

"Oh, I'm fine. I just got over a nasty cold." Kagome answered before her mind could realize her mistake. Why would she tell him that she wasn't sick! He would start to think he would have a better chance of taking her out now.

"Oh that's good. So do you want to go?"

Kagome sighed and looked over at Inuyasha who currently had his head stuck out the window, looking down at her dead alarm clock. "Umm... Sorry Hojo but I can't."

"Is it too soon? Because if you need more time to rest I can…"

Kagome cut him off before he got too far. "That's not it. I…. uh…" She looked at Inuyasha who was now playing with her desk lamp. The half demon managed to turn on the light bulb just as Kagome got an idea. "I'm kinda busy tonight. Going out… Going out with my boyfriend." Well, it was bound to come out sooner or later.

The line was quiet for a moment. "Boyfriend?" Hojo repeated.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry Hojo but I just don't like you that way," Kagome sighed. "I wasn't trying to lead you on or anything like that. Please understand."

"I see," There was another awkward pause between the two on the phone

The silence was broke but a quiet smash that came from Kagome's room. Looking over, Kagome growled loudly as she saw Inuyasha stressing over her now broken desk lamp. She was about to hell at the half demon when Hojo cleared his throat to speak again.

"That's ok Kagome, no prob." He said in his cheery voice on the other end of the phone. "I'll see you when you return to class then. Bye."

"Well, uh… ok. Bye" And with that she hung up the phone with a dazed look on her face. Well that went easier than expected. A moment of silence was spent staring at the phone before the girl realized that there was a certain half demon in her room and he broke another one of her things.

Mrs. Higrashi was downstairs busy with making everyone's lunch when she heard her daughter yell angrily, "Inuyasha!" The woman at the stove couldn't help but giggle to herself as she poured the noodles into separate bowls.

Kagome flopped down on her bed with a frustrated sigh. She could feel a headache coming on. Inuyasha went over to the side of her bed and sat down on the floor with his back against the bed, pouting because he got in trouble again.

It was quiet for a moment but Kagome broke the silence with another sigh and rolled over so she was facing Inuyasha's back. Without saying anything, she absentmindedly moved her hand over to Inuyasha's ear since it was right there and began to play with his furry ear. Inuyasha just sat there, staring out the window, enjoying Kagome's touch.

And with that the anger left the room. The only thing that broke their silence after that was Kagome's mother calling them down for lunch.

The two made their way down the stairs, Kagome wincing only once as he stepped down too hard on her bruised ankle but she waved it off saying that it was fine. The two sat at the table and Mrs. Higurashi brought over two bowls of steaming hot noodles. But before she sat down, Kagome's mother went back to the stove and brought over two more bowls.

"Who's the other bowl for?" Kagome asked, pointing at the extra bowl in her mom's hand.

"For Inuyasha of course," Mrs. Higurashi smiled as she placed the second bowl in front of the half demon.

Inuyasha looked up from his bowl at Kagome's mother with a surprised look on his face. "Thamk chuu," He said his thanks, his mouth already full of noodles.

"You're very welcome dear," Mrs. Higurashi smiled as she sat down beside Kagome. "But before you get the other bowl of noodles, you have to answer my question from last night."

Inuyasha swallowed his noodles and looked over at the woman sitting beside Kagome. Kagome also put down her chopsticks and looked at her mother. Question?

"Are my grandchildren going to have cute doggie ears like you?"

Kagome chocked on the noodles that she was chewing on and had to down a full class of orange juice in order to get the mouthful of noodles down. She coughed loudly as she saved herself from her lunch and looked at her mother with a shocked expression.

"MOM!" She yelled in embarrassment.

o-o-o-o

After lunch was finished, Mrs. Higurashi cleaned up in the kitchen and went out to the truck while Kagome went upstairs to get dressed.

Kagome was still blushing after what her mother asked. She tried to hide her embarrassment with acting all angry when really she was very flustered. She grabbed a shirt and a pair of jean shorts and headed to the bathroom. "Inuyasha, I'm going to take a quick shower... You can go outside or…. something."

"'Kay," He said, while lying on her bed. When he heard the water running behind the closed door of the bathroom, the half demon got up and jumped out her window. He landed on the ground without a sound and looked down at the broken pink alarm clock. Letting out a frustrating sigh, Inuyasha walked over to the God Tree and jumped up into its branches.

The God Tree hadn't changed very much between his time and Kagome's time and the half demon didn't waste any time in finding his favourite branch to lounge on. If he concentrated his hearing, he could pick up on all the sounds of the city but he focused on Kagome's humming from the bath room. Leaning against the truck of the tree, Inuyasha let out a sigh of content. He closed his eyes and felt the wind blow through his hair - it was peaceful in Kagome's era, no demons to deal with.

When Kagome was done her shower, she dried off and got dressed before going into her room. She thought she would have found Inuyasha in there but all she found was Inuyasha's sword Tetsusaiga lying on her bed. Taking a guess at where he was, she walked out of her room and headed outside.

It didn't take her long to find the half demon up in the green leaves of the God Tree. The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky and there was a gentle breeze playing with the leaves of the trees around the shrine.

Kagome walked into the shade of the tree and looked up at Inuyasha. "Come on, Mom's waiting for us down in the truck." She called up into the tree.

"I'ma coming," Inuyasha answered back and jumped out landing in front of Kagome.

"Here," She said, holding a hat in her hands. She saw the annoyed expression on his face as he looked down at the hat. "Sorry but people in my time haven't seen someone with dog ears. There are no demons in my time and it would freak some people out."

Inuyasha didn't say anything but Kagome could hear the growl he was holding back. "Fine," He said gruffly and let Kagome lead him to the truck where her mother was waiting.

When Mrs. Higurashi saw her daughter and Inuyasha coming towards the car, she smiled from where she sat in the driver's seat. She watched as her daughter talked to Inuyasha about something and then started laughing at something the dog demon had said. _'My little Kagome has grown up so fast. It wasn't just a coincidence that she fell down the well and ended up 500 years in the past. She doesn't belong in this time; she belongs in Inuyasha's time.'_

Just then, Kagome opened the door to the truck. "Hey Mom, sorry we took so long. Inuyasha didn't agree with the hat idea at first." She giggled as the half demon behind her grumbled something.

"That's alright dear. We're in no hurry." Mrs. Higurashi smiled to her daughter. '_Just don't grow up too soon.'_

It took quite a lot of coaxing just to convince Inuyasha that the truck wasn't going to eat him. The half demon had never seen a vehicle before and wasn't sure what to think of it. When they finally got him to sit in the seat and figured out how to put the seatbelt on, Mrs. Higurashi started the truck.

"Aaaaahhhhhhhh!" The half demon almost jumped out of his skin. "Kagome!" He yelled in fear and instantly clung to Kagome in fear of the monster from her time.

Kagome was surprised at the sudden closeness between her and the half demon. "Inuyasha…. Inuyasha, it's ok," She said calmly but trying to hold in her giggle. "It's ok, Mom just started the truck. It will start moving now but it's ok."

Inuyasha slowly let go of Kagome as he looked around the truck once more and gave a weary sigh. This time was just way too weird – the food was good, but everything else was so different. Why couldn't they just walk?

Mrs. Higurashi slowly let go of the break and the truck moved a bit. Inuyasha saw that the truck was moving and grabbed onto Kagome's hand. He didn't like this 'truck' or whatever it was called.

Kagome looked down at their hands and then at the frightened Inuyasha. She squeezed his hand and smiled, "It's ok, trust me."

o-o-o-o

To Inuyasha, the trip in the truck took forever but it really wasn't that long. In a couple short minutes they made it to the mall and Kagome helped Inuyasha out of the truck. He was happy to get out of the weird thing that moved.

"That is one thing I do _not_ like about your time." He growled at the parked truck but then when he turned to follow Kagome, he stopped and looked with wide eyes at where Kagome and her mother had brought him.

The mall wasn't the biggest shopping centre in the city but it was the first shipping mall the half demon had been to. There were so many people and new smalls overpowering his demon senses. "Wow," was all he could get out as he looked around him.

But then there was a sudden gust of wind that lifted the hat off of the dog demon's head. Kagome let out a gasp and ran after the fly-away hat as fast as she could. She managed to get it back quickly but the few seconds that it had been off of Inuyasha's head was enough for some people to see.

"Did that guy have ears that looked like a dog's?"

"Look at his weird outfit."

"He has such long, silver hair."

Inuyasha could hear everyone around them whispering. "Uh… Kagome, I think we should get out of here." He growled, not liking all the negative attention he was getting.

Kagome looked around at the people who were standing around them and looking. "Come on," she said as she pulled Inuyasha after her mother who had walked into the mall already.

The mall was huge and so full of life. There were people everywhere, walking down the walkways that lead to so many different stores. Inuyasha looked all around and looked up, seeing that there was even a second level with even more stores. There was just no end to this giant place. And according to Kagome, it wasn't even the biggest shipping market in her area.

Mrs. Higurashi and Kagome dragged Inuyasha around everywhere, showing him electronic stores, book stores, mini grocery stores and even pet stores. They showed him the food court, and then dragged him over to where the clothing stores were on the second level.

They had been walking around for about two hours when Mrs. Higurashi suddenly remembered something. Letting out a slight gasp, she looked at the watch on her wrist. "Oh! I just remembered that I have to pick Sota and Grandpa up in about half an hour. I should get going if I'm going to make it in time."

"Where did they go?" Kagome asked as she turned around to look at her mother. The fingers of her left hand were intertwined with Inuyasha's fingers so he wouldn't wander off too far.

"Sota was sleeping over at a friend's house and I have to pick up Grandpa at the airport. He was out of town for a few days at a Bonsai Tree convention." Leave it to Grandpa to go so some 'old-man' convention. "You two stay here and shop. I'll go buy you a new alarm clock and desk lamp on my way out and I'll come pick you up in an hour."

"Ok, thanks Mom." Kagome smiled and turned to smile at Inuyasha. But the half demon was too busy looking at everything around him. She turned back to her mother, "We'll meet you at the south entrance at 4:00?"

Mrs. Higurashi looked at her wristwatch and then back at her daughter. "Ok sounds like a plan. I'll see you two in a bit then. Have fun." She gave Kagome a quick kiss on the forehead and then left to go back towards the truck.

When her mother left, Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and squeezed his hand to get his attention. The half demon looked down at her with a tilt of his head. "Shall we go get you a new outfit?" Kagome asked and before Inuyasha could answer, she pulled him towards the nearest clothing store.

o-o-o-o

The store Kagome led the half demon into was playing the latest upbeat music and was busy with several high school students looking around at the clothing racks. Kagome took a quick look at the men's section, deemed it suitable for their mission and dragged Inuyasha over towards the clothes.

While Kagome and looking through the hangers one of the store associates walked up to the couple. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Kagome looked over at the girl who greeted them. "Oh, hi. We're just trying to find him something to wear." Kagome explained with a tint of blush on her cheeks as she watched the girl in front of them look at Inuyasha's clothes.

"I see…" The girl's voice faded quietly as she looked over at Inuyasha. "Shopping for your boyfriend?" She questioned as she looked up at the half demon who had his arms crossed over his chest in a very tough looking stance.

"Umm… yeah," Kagome blushed as she looked up at Inuyasha who stayed quiet.

"Well how about I put together a couple of outfits for him to try on? Is there anything that he would like in particular?" The girl asked, not wanting to ask the standoffish guy himself.

Kagome took a moment to look up at Inuyasha. The half demon just looked down at her with a questioning look but didn't say anything as Kagome turned back to the girl in front of them. "Umm, a little bit of everything might be good."

"Will do." The girl chirped happily and ran off to collect some clothes for Inuyasha to try on.

o-o-o-o

A couple minutes later the girl brought back several folded clothes and pulled led Inuyasha over to one of the nearby changing rooms.

As the half demon was pushed into the changing room, he was suddenly hit in the head by the clothes as the girl flung the clothes over the closed door. He wasn't the claustrophobic type but he didn't like to be push around, but managed to keep his cool. With the clothes hanging over the edge of the door, the half demon picked up one of the pieces of clothing and realized he had no idea what to do with it.

"I think this might take a while," he heard Kagome's voice on the other side of the door. "He can be a pit picky about clothes."

"Ok, I'll go see if I can find anything else for him," he heard the girl say happily. "I'll be back in a little while. Let me know if he likes anything." Inuyasha then heard her footsteps go off through the store.

There was a knock at the door. "Inuyasha? Do you want some help?" Kagome's voice on the other side.

"Some help would be nice," he answered as pulled open the door to let Kagome in. When they shut the door behind them, the half demon looked down at Kagome and realized that there was limited space in the changing room.

"Ok, l-let's try this shirt on," Kagome stuttered as she pulled one of the shirts off the door. She tried to hide her blushing face as Inuyasha started to untie his haori and undershirt. She handed him a dark blue shirt and helped him pull it over his head and arms through the sleeves.

When the half demon had the shirt on, Kagome stepped back - figuratively due to the limited space – and looked at how well the shirt looked on Inuyasha. The shirt fit him nicely but dark blue wasn't his colour. "I think you should go with the red, it seems to be your colour," she remarked and helped Inuyasha take the shirt off.

With luck, the store worked hard grabbed a red shirt so Kagome got the dog demon to try it on. It was a simple red button-down collared shirt but with faded black tribal markings along the ribs. Kagome deemed it suitable for Inuyasha and then they moved onto the pants.

But for the pants portion of the dressing, Kagome quickly explained how to dress and left the changing room with a fresh layer of blush on her cheeks.

"How are we doing over here?" The store helper asked as she walked back over to the changing rooms.

"We're doing pretty good," Kagome answered and just as she did, the door opened up and the newly dressed Inuyasha stepped out.

The half demon left the red tribal shirt on and dressed in a pair of black cargo pants. Kagome quickly went to find a pair of sandals for him to try on and his outfit was complete. He stood outside the change room with his arms folded over his chest and the hat still resting on top of his head.

"Wow, you look great," the store worker pointed out as she looked over at the dog demon. "You seem to like that hat huh?" The girl pointed out but when the guy in front of her gave her a stern look she quickly stopped smiling. "So uh… can I get you anything else?"

"No I think we're good here, we'll get these." Kagome said as she secretly elbowed Inuyasha in the side for the glare.

The store associate took them over to the counter and Kagome paid for everything while Inuyasha played around with the new dog-tag necklace that Kagome added to his outfit. When everything was paid for, Kagome thanked the store helper and then led Inuyasha to the food court to get something to eat.

They sat in the food court for a while, eating the noodles that Kagome had bought at one of the restaurants. Inuyasha could still hear some people whispering about him, the uncommon hair colour of his was getting him lots of attention but at least it wasn't as bad as when he was still wearing his own clothes.

"What do you think of your new clothes?" Kagome asked as if she could read his mind.

"It'll take some getting used to but they're ok," Inuyasha said lightly, taking more noodles from his bowl with his chopsticks. The new clothes that Kagome had gotten him weren't as comfortable as his clothes but he figured it was only because he wasn't used to them.

After a moment of silence between the two, Kagome looked down at her watch. "Come on, we got some time left. Do you want to go to the arcade?" She offered as she cleaned up their lunch.

"Ar-cade?" He tilted his head in confusion. "What's that?"

"It's a place where people go and play games for fun," Kagome grabbed his hand and led him towards the arcade. The arcade was full of noises of ringing and sirens, buzzers and squeals of little children having fun with the games.

"This should be a piece of cake for you, Inuyasha." She said as she handed him the hammer. "All you have to do is hit the little creatures when they pop out of the holes." She saw Inuyasha smile and added quickly: "But you can't use you demon powers or you're going to break the game." She pointed to the screen. "If you miss ten of them, then the game is done."

"Ok, I get it," Inuyasha said as he got read for what might happen as the game started.

"Remember, the hammer is not Tetsusaiga," Kagome warned as she put two coins into the machine. The screen lit up as the game came to life.

"Are you ready, warrior?" A voice came from the game announced as the game started. "3… 2… 1… GO!"

A mole popped up from one of the holes at the base of the game. Inuyasha saw it and quickly moved to hit it, making it squeal and go back into the hole.

"That's it Inuyasha!" Kagome cheered beside the half demon. "Oh, over there!"

_Whack!_ 20 points.

_Whack!_ 40 points.

_Whack! Whack!_ 80 points.

"Go Inuyasha!" Kagome cheered.

_Whack!_ 120 points.

_Whack! Whack!_ 160 points.

_'This is a piece of cake.'_ Inuyasha thought as the machine announced that he had beaten the next level. The moles started to pop up faster now but it was still slow compared to his demon reflexes.

_Whack! Whack! Whack!_

Some kids had stated to gather around the two at the Whack-a-Mole game for they were interested in how far the game would go. Inuyasha didn't mind the children around him and kept his eyes on the moles that popped up. Inuyasha continued on, whacking each and every mole, not missing on and not even breaking a sweat. This was just too easy for him; his demon senses gave him the ultimate advantage.

o-o-o-o

Ten minutes later the half demon was still going! Everyone in the arcade was crowded around him, wanting to see how far he would be able to go. Even the guy who owned the arcade was watching.

_Whack! Whack! Whack!_

All the kids around the machine started to cheer loudly every time the half demon made it through a new level. Even people who were sitting in the nearby food court came over to see what all the fuss was about. "Go! Go! Go!" They all chanted for Inuyasha.

"Level 18!" The voice of the game announced and everyone cheered louder. No one in history of the mall had ever gotten this far. The little critters were popping out of the moles like crazy but the half demon was still hitting them just as fast as they popped out.

_Whack! Whack! Whack!_ 9,900 points.

_Whack! Whack! Whack!_ 9,980 points.

The last mole came up, almost in slow motion as Inuyasha brought the hammer down and hit it. The game's screen started to flash. No more moles popped their head up. The owner came up and checked the machine.

"Yup," he said, hitting the machine a couple times. "You were playing so long, that the game was overrun. You beat the game!"

Everyone jumped up and down, cheering for the new 'Whack a Mole' champion.

Inuyasha didn't understand what the big fuss was. It was almost a shock to see how many people there were crowded around him; he hadn't paid any attention to anything but the game. The store owner led Inuyasha and Kagome over to the front desk, where all the prizes were. "Take your pick. You beat the game so you can pick whatever one you want."

Inuyasha looked at all the stuffed animals. There were giant lizards and snakes of every colour, but there was on that caught his eye. It was a giant puppy. "That one," he said and pointed to his choice.

The owner smiled and walked over to the shelf to get the targeted stuffed animal. He got it down for Inuyasha and smiled at the couple. "That was the best game I've seen since I opened this arcade! Come back soon, ok?"

Inuyasha thanked the man as he and Kagome made their way out of the arcade. All the kids who had watched the amazing game waved to the dog demon as they saw the couple leave. Kagome and Inuyasha went back to the food court and sat down on one of the benches near the artificial trees.

"That was so amazing Inuyasha!" Kagome jumped in excitement on the bench as she turned to the half demon beside her.

Inuyasha looked over at the raven haired girl beside him and smiled. He handed her the giant stuff puppy that he had won from the game store. "Here, I want you to have it."

Kagome took the giant puppy from Inuyasha and looked at it for a moment. The stuffed animal was white with yellow eyes. Yellow – but not like Inuyasha's golden eyes. The puppy even had white ears like Inuyasha's. She set the puppy down on the beach and gave Inuyasha a hug. "Thank you," she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Just then before Inuyasha could say anything, Kagome's watched beeped. Kagome looked down at her wristwatch and saw that it was 4:00. "Oh we have to go, Mom should be here to pick us up."

Taking Inuyasha's hand in one of hers and the stuffed puppy in her other hand, they headed off to the south entrance to meet Mrs. Higurashi.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	7. Question

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 7 - Question

When the two reached the south entrance of the mall, they saw Kagome's family truck waiting parked by the sidewalk.

Kagome opened the door and let Inuyasha get in first. "Sorry we're a bit late." She apologized as she closed the door behind her and helped the half demon fasten his seatbelt.

"That's alright dear, we're in no hurry." Mrs. Higurashi smiled from the driver's seat. She looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Inuyasha wasn't wearing his normal outfit and turned in her seat to see him better. "My Inuyasha, that outfit looks great on you," she said with a smile.

But before Inuyasha could answer, Kagome's little brother Sota was right in the half demon's face. "Hi Inuyasha!" Wow your outfit looks so cool! Say, how long are you going to stay this time? Hey when we get back home, can you play video games with me? Are you mfph ofth…."

He couldn't finish his question because Inuyasha clapped a clawed hand over his mouth. "Jeez kid, are you ever quiet? You're giving me a headache." Inuyasha sighed, keeping his hand over Sota's mouth just in case he would start up with the questions again.

"Sota, leave Inuyasha alone and turn around place," Mrs. Higurashi said as she pulled out of the parking lot. She looked in the rear view mirror again and saw Kagome's stuffed animal. "Kagome, where did you get that cute stuffed dog?"

"Oh, Inuyasha won it for me at the arcade." Kagome answered, hugging the stuffed dog with one arm and linking her other arm around Inuyasha's arm.

Sota bounced around and faced them again from the passenger's seats. "Really, what did he play?"

Kagome giggled. "Whack a Mole. He was playing for like half an hour. He played for so long that the game shut down," she looked over at Inuyasha who just stared out the window, his chin resting on his hand.

o-o-o-o

When they got home, Inuyasha helped Mrs. Higurashi take in Grandpa's bags while Kagome's grandfather went to help some visitors who had come to the shrine. Kagome and Sota took in the grocery bags and Sota's sleepover bags.

When Kagome was done putting away the groceries that her mother had gotten, she saw that Inuyasha was busy helping her mother with something so she went upstairs to put away her new giant stuffy dog. When she got up to her room, she saw that Tetsusaiga was still lying on her bed where Inuyasha had left it when they went to the mall.

She set her stuffed dog on the floor in the corner of her room and went to sit on her bed beside Inuyasha's sword. While sitting on the bed, she reached over and grabbed her journal from her bedside dresser and started writing down her thoughts. While writing, she stopped for a moment and looked down at the resting sword.

Just then Inuyasha entered her room with the bag that his Feudal Era clothes were in. The half demon saw that Kagome was sitting beside his sword and looked down at her with concerned golden eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"No nothing is wrong, just writing." Kagome smiled up at him from her book. "I have to get to studying soon for that test but I just wanted to write down what was on my mind before I forgot it."

"What has been on your mind?" The half demon questioned as he sat down on the end of her bed. He sat crossed legged on the other side of the bed and was about to put his hands in his sleeves when he realized that he didn't have sleeves in the button down shirt he was wearing. Letting out a slight grumble, he went to playing with the hem of his pants to keep his fingers busy.

"I like to keep a journal about my adventures." Kagome smiled as she wrote down the last of her thoughts in the book and then put it back in the bedside table where she had gotten it front. Her smile faded a bit when she looked down at Inuyasha's sword again. "I've just been thinking about the battle with Naraku when we go back to your time."

"Are you scared?" Inuyasha questioned, his voice lowering as the mood of the conversation grew serious.

"Yes I am." Kagome said honestly. "I worry about Sango and having to save her brother Kohaku, I worry about Miroku and his Wind Tunnel." She ran her hand over the sheath of Tetsusaiga. "And I worry about you fighting and getting hurt."

Inuyasha could see that Kagome was shaking as she spoke. She was holding back tears as she talked about their upcoming battle with Naraku. "Kagome…"

"I'm scared of going off to battle but I know it's where I need to be. I'm not that strong and I can't protect myself very much and I worry about being in the wrong place at the wrong time and you getting hurt because of me." Her black bangs fell over her eyes and she bit her lip to stop her from crying. "I wish I was stronger. I wish I was strong like Kikyo."

Inuyasha could hear the hurt in Kagome's voice and got up from the bed and pulled Kagome up from where she was sitting. "Kagome, don't compare yourself to Kikyo. And don't worry so much, we'll pull through the final battle and finally be rid of Naraku forever."

Kagome looked up at the half demon in front of her, her brown eyes locking with the golden eyes before her. His eyes were smoldering with some hidden emotion that made Kagome's heart skip a beat as Inuyasha held her hands in his.

"I"ll be there to protect you Kagome, I'll always be there." He whispered, his lips inching closer to hers. He reached one hand up and cupped her check, his thumb rubbing away a stray tear that had escaped Kagome's control. "I'll always be here for you Kagome."

Kagome couldn't hold back all of her tears and a few slipped down her cheeks but where rubbed away by Inuyasha's thumb. She found herself leaning into the warm that Inuyasha's hand had on her face. She was so afraid that Inuyasha was going to get hurt in the upcoming battle. Her mind kept showing her his death by Naraku's hands and as the thought bubbled in her mind, it replayed in front of her eyes again and she started to shake.

Inuyasha watched something flash before Kagome's eyes and he felt her start to shake uncontrollably. He wished he could stop her nightmares, put her fears to rest and as he wished this he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his chest. "I love you Kagome," he whispered and felt her bury her face in his shirt. "I will always protect you, no matter what. I know now why you came to my world and it wasn't just to bring back the Shikon Jewel."

Kagome looked up at him from his shirt. "Why?" She asked.

"You came to my time to show me how to live, how to trust others when no one would trust me." He looked down at her, running his claws fingers through her hair. "You showed me how to love when no one would love me. It was our destiny to meet; you were born to meet me, and I was born to meet you."

Kagome was quiet, trying to keep her sobs down as she listened to Inuyasha's feelings as he held her.

Inuyasha went quiet for a moment, his thoughts bringing him to a question that he had thought of the night before when he fell asleep beside the girl he loved. "Kagome… I have a question for you," he started as pulled Kagome away to look at her. "I… uh…"

This was it; now or never. He now knew that Kagome was scared of their final battle just as he had been plagued by nightmares. "Kagome, I know I'm always gruff and stubborn and I'm not always good with speaking about how I feel. But you've always been there for me and I don't know how much longer we have before the final battle with Naraku so I wanted to ask you this now before we went back," He tightened his grip on Kagome's hand and took a deep breath. "Kagome, w-would you do me the honor of becoming my mate?"

Kagome's eyes went huge with shock at Inuyasha's question. It took a second or two to figure out that what he had asked her was the 'demon-version' of proposing to her. "M-Me?" She stuttered, not able to really believe that this was going on. But it was going on; Inuyasha, the half demon she had fallen in love with was asking to be with her forever. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at Inuyasha, "Yes, yes Inuyasha I will." She laughed happily as she crashed into his chest with a hug. "I will."

Inuyasha hugged her back, pulling her closer and not wanting to let her go. Be pulled away for a moment only to capture her lips in a kiss and Kagome didn't waste a moment to kiss him back. The kiss made Inuyasha feel like he was floating, like his heart was going to pound right out of his chest.

Inuyasha pulled her closer, kissing her on the lips but then moved to kiss her cheek and then her jawline and down her neck. Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck, loving his touch as he kissed down her neck. The half demon stopped when he kissed down to her collarbone. He stopped and pulled away to look back at Kagome, seeing her eyes sparkling with unshed tears of happiness. "If you will let me, I want to do something that will show that no one else can have you, only me." He explained as he ran this thumb down her cheek. "Demons are sorta overprotective when it comes to their mates," he smirked as he ran his fingers over her collar bone. "It might hurt for a moment." He looked to Kagome to give him permission. "Will you let me?"

Kagome didn't need a moment to think about what he was asking and nodded. Inuyasha moved the collar of her shirt down her shoulder so that he could see the flesh of her neck. He looked at Kagome again, afraid that she would pull away but she nodded and he turned back to her shoulder.

He kissed her soft skin for a moment before opening his mouth and biting down with his fangs. She jumped a little when his fangs cut her skin but she stayed still with her hands resting on Inuyasha's shoulders. The pain lessened and Inuyasha soon pulled away. The mark left looked like two tiny hearts.

"There," Inuyasha smiled, pleased with his mark. He looked up at Kagome with his golden eyes sparkling.

"Now what?" Kagome asked as they held each other in her bedroom. She wanted to reach up and touch where he had bitten her but he still had a hold of her hands.

Inuyasha leaned down so his forehead was touching Kagome's forehead. "Now, you're mine," the half demon took one deep breath that filled his nose with Kagome's scent. He looked down at her and captured her lips in a kiss again.

While their lips were locked in a kiss, Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Inuyasha gave a slight growl of possessiveness and guided the raven haired girl down onto the bed, deepening the kiss while his hand moved down to grasp her waist.

Kagome gave a quiet moan in pleasure as she felt Inuyasha on top of her as he kissed her collarbone where he had bitten her. Hearing her moan only made Inuyasha's growl deepen with desire as he kissed her harder.

But then there was a sudden knock on the door that pulled the two apart with a gasp. With the spell from their kiss broken, Inuyasha and Kagome both realized how close they were and jumped three feet apart, both their faces blazing red with blush. "Kagome, Inuyasha; Supper is ready." Mrs. Higurashi said through the closed door.

Her face flush with embarrassment, Kagome cleared her throat and tried to finger-comb her hair to make it look like she wasn't just making out on her bed. But then when she thought about her mother's voice, she realized what she was going to have to tell her family and her eyes went wide. "C-Coming," she answered her mother but kept her eyes on Inuyasha.

Inuyasha could see the look on Kagome's face as well as his hearing picked up the quickening of her heart beat as she got nervous. "Don't freak, Kagome." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder to lead her to the door. He could tell that she was scared about telling her family about them together. "Don't worry; I'll be right there with you."

Kagome couldn't help but shutter as she stood up from the bed but one look at Inuyasha and she felt a slight calmer. She gave the half demon a slight nod and opened the door to go downstairs for supper. With a deep breath, she felt Inuyasha's hand grasp hers and together they walked downstairs to confront her family.

To Kagome, it felt like it took an eternity just to get down the stairs. With every step her heart sped up, beating like crazy in her chest. She heard Inuyasha tell her to calm down and she nodded but she couldn't help it. "I'm just nervous." She whispered as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She was sure Sota wouldn't protest, she was sure her little brother would love to have Inuyasha in the family. But what about Grandpa and her mom, would they think that she was making some rash decision? She wasn't even finished high school yet.

Inuyasha could hear Kagome's heart beating fast and he could almost feel her shaking beside him. Before they rounded the corner to the kitchen, the half demon stopped Kagome. He had come up with a plan that might calm Kagome's nerves. "Kagome, you seem to have a close relationship with your mother. Do you think it would be better if we just tell her first?"

Kagome nodded, agreeing with Inuyasha's idea. Why didn't she think of that! She was sure that the pressure of breaking the news would be a lot easier if they just told her mother first. "Good idea," she smiled and turned towards the kitchen.

Mrs. Higurashi watched from the kitchen as Inuyasha and Kagome both entered. She smiled when she saw that they were holding hands but wondered why Kagome looked like she was going to pass out.

"Um... Mom? Could y-you come here for a minute? I-Inuyasha and I have something to tell you," Kagome stuttered as she tried to keep her breathing normal. Her heart almost exploded in her chest.

"Sure honey," Mrs. Higurashi smiled and she followed the two into the living room. Inuyasha and Kagome sat down on the couch while her mother took a seat in the chair across from them. She saw that Kagome kept her fingers laced with Inuyasha's and Kagome was taking slow deep breaths as if to calm down. "Is something the matter?"

Kagome took a deep breath. "Mom... you know that time under the God Tree, I told you that I loved Inuyasha?" She started but then inwardly growled. _'What kind of way is that to start off?' _She mentally yelled at herself.

Her mother nodded but said nothing as she waited for what else her daughter had to say.

"Well, um... Inuyasha and I are..." She couldn't get it out! She was too scared!

Inuyasha cleared his throat. "You see Mrs. Higurashi, Kagome and I are what demons call in my time, mates." Kagome held her breath and tightened her grip on Inuyasha's hand, almost turning it purple. "At least we are now, I had just asked Kagome to be my mate."

Mrs. Higurashi was quiet for a minute, her facial expression was blank. But then she smiled. "I know." she said simply. At her comment, the two gave out a questioning 'huh' before she started laughing quietly. Kagome's mother stayed with the pleasant look on her face as she smiled at her daughter and the dog demon. "I heard you ask Kagome while I was going to get the laundry."

"So... y-you're not mad?" Kagome asked, on the verge of fainting.

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Mrs. Higurashi got up and hugged her daughter. "I would never be mad. I knew a while ago that Inuyasha was the one. I'm happy if your happy, Kagome."

"Thanks Mom," Kagome said as she hugged her mother. She could feel tears prick her eyes but she fought them back. After all, she didn't want to make this a very sappy moment. "I knew you would understand."

Mrs. Higurashi pulled away and Inuyasha could see those same stars in her eyes that he saw the night before. _'The night before? Has it really been that short of time?'_ The dog demon took a moment to ponder over how short time had been since all of this happened.

"Just think... soon, I'm going to be a grandmother!"

Inuyasha's thoughts were interrupted at what Mrs. Higurashi had said excitedly and he let out a nervous chuckle while Kagome's jaw dropped. "Mom! I told you that Inuyasha and I were mates, I didn't tell you I was pregnant." Kagome yelled, her face turning red from embarrassment.

"I know sweetie. But somewhere along the line..." Her mother didn't finish her sentence, but they knew what she was going to say. "Oh, we should have a wedding!" Mrs. Higurashi said when she was done dreaming.

Kagome didn't say anything at first but what her mother had said had popped the idea in her mind. Ever since she was a little girl, just like any other girl, she had dreamed about her wedding day. She looked at Inuyasha who nodded and a smile broke out on her face.

But then she realized what she and Inuyasha had been talking about earlier – their battle with Naraku. Her face fell as she realized their duty in the other world beyond the well. "But..." She looked at the ground. "What about Naraku? And the jewel?"

Inuyasha thought for a moment. "It's ok, Kagome. We can get rid of Naraku once and for all and then we can get married." Just the sound of 'married' on his tongue was something that sent his heart soaring.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Mrs. Higurashi smiled at her daughter and soon to be son in law. "Now come on, dinner is getting cold." She said, eyes still sparkling with stars.

They all got up from their seats and headed into the dining room to sit down at the table to eat supper. The three of them didn't say anything and started to eat their food while Grandpa and Sota look at them with questioning looks.

"Hey sis, what did you guys talk about that took so long? And why does Mom look like she won the lottery?" Sota asked, looking at his big sister for the answer.

Kagome giggled as she looked at her mother sitting on the other side of the table from her. Her heart wasn't breaking into a sprint anymore. With telling her mother first, she got over the nervous feeling and was excited to tell her little brother and grandfather. It felt like she was on Cloud 9. "Well you see Sota, Inuyasha and I are going to get married."

"Married?" Sota and grandpa both repeated at the same time.

It was quiet for a moment while both Gramps and Sota thought this over in their heads. Kagome's heart sped up for a second or two, doubting the easiness to tell the rest of her family. Was she wrong?

"Yeah! Inuyasha is going to be my big brother!" Sota broke the silence, jumping in his seat.

"Married? Kagome, I'm so happy for you." Grandpa said. This calmness surprised Kagome since Gramps had been so against Kagome going to the other time in the beginning. He also didn't seem to get along with Inuyasha all of the time, but it seemed like things were going to work out. "Is that why your mother is so happy?"

They all looked at the Higurashi mother but she didn't notice all the looks in her direction. All she didn't was stare into space with a big smile on her face as she ate her food. Every now and then she would let out a sigh.

All they got out of her that night was the word, "Grandchildren."

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	8. Back to the Past

**The Storm**

By: Angel-With-Attitude

Chapter 8 - Back to the Past

The next morning Kagome woke up early to get ready for her day of school. She had a test that she needed to take today in order to try and keep up with her marks and she had spent the rest of the night studying after supper.

She managed to get out of bed without disrupting the sleeping half demon and went into the bathroom to change into her high school uniform. When she went back to her room to get her schoolbag, she heard Inuyasha mumble something in his sleep.

She quietly walked over to Inuyasha who was still sleeping in her bed and knelt down in front of him, studying his face. He had a worried expression painted on his sleeping face and when she got closer, she heard the dog demon mumble her name,.

"No… Kagome…. No," he mumbled as she gripped the pillow at his head.

"It's ok Inuyasha, it's just a nightmare." Kagome whispered and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before leaving her room to head off to school.

Along her walk to school she tried to look over the equations that were going to be on the upcoming test but she couldn't get Inuyasha's sleep-mumbling out of her head. Her mind wandered away from the test subject and found herself pondering about Inuyasha's nightmare.

o-o-o-o

Her test was as easy as could be expected for her night-before cramming and as soon as she handed in her test, Kagome made her way back home to pack for her return to the Feudal Era.

When she arrived home, she was greeted by Inuyasha who was standing by the God Tree. Studying his face, Kagome didn't see any trouble from the nightmare he had this morning but he had a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Hi," she greeted as she walked up to the dog demon who was dressed in his fire rat pants and his white undershirt. "Well I'm done school for now, so I guess we can get back to your time."

"Yeah…" Inuyasha smiled down at the raven haired girl. He didn't say anything else but lifted his hand and ran his claws through Kagome's long hair, studying her eyes.

Kagome caught Inuyasha's hand in hers and looked up into his eyes. "What's the matter?" She asked with concern. She had never seen his some quiet before.

"It's nothing," the dog demon shook his head and his eyes showed that he pushed this thoughts away. "Come on, we should start parking."

Kagome didn't push the issue and followed Inuyasha as they walked to her house to start packing for their trip to the other side of the well.

After a quick lunch the two busied themselves with packing the big yellow backpack with supplies needed to take back to the Feudal Era. While they packed, they stayed quiet as they were busy with their thoughts. They knew this was it; the last time they were going to be in Kagome's time before their final battle with Naraku.

This was it.

"Mom?" Kagome called from the upstairs bathroom. "Where is the extra first aid kit?"

"It's on the second shelf from the top, on your right." Her mother answered from the living room at the base of the stairs.

When the two were finished packing the backpack, Kagome counted inventory to make double sure that they had everything that they needed.

"Blankets?" Kagome's mother read off the list, getting a 'check' from Kagome who was rooting through the backpack. "Clean clothes? Two first aid kits?" She continued down the list, getting a 'double check' from her daughter. "Ramen?"

"Uh…" Kagome searched through the big yellow bag but couldn't find the packets of instant noodles. She rummaged through everything a second time but it still was nowhere to be found. "Where…?"

"Check," Inuyasha's voice said from behind her. The raven haired girl turned around to see Inuyasha standing there, arms filled with cups of ramen.

"Why so much? We're going to go and kill Naraku, not have a picnic." Kagome said, stuffing them all in her already oversized backpack.

When everything was accounted for and packed away in the backpack, Inuyasha took the oversized back and slung it over his shoulder. The Higurashi family walked the two out to the little shrine building that housed the well that would take Kagome and Inuyasha back to the Feudal Era. When they arrived to the well house, Inuyasha placed the bag down and turned to watch Kagome say goodbye to her family.

"Bye Sota." Kagome hugged her little brother tightly. Ever since she saw Sango's pain of losing her little brother, Kagome took the time to spend more time with Sota. Nothing would be worse than losing her little brother; she saw that in Sango's eyes every time she mentioned Kohaku.

Kagome then turned to hug her mother. "You'll be alright Kagome, come back to us." Mrs. Higurashi said, hugging her daughter close. "And when you come back, we'll celebrate!" Kagome pulled away and Mrs. Higurashi kissed her forehead. "Good luck."

While Kagome was giving her grandfather a hug and saying a few words to the old man, Inuyasha watched as Kagome's mother walked up to him. "You take good care of her Inuyasha."

The half demon blinked twice at Mrs. Higurashi's words before nodding down at the woman. "Of course," he smiled but then stiffened when she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. His eyes went wide for a moment, Mrs. Higurashi's hug reminded him of his mother's hugs when he was a child.

"You take good care of yourself too," Kagome's mother said as she pulled away from the half demon and offered him a smile.

With goodbyes done, the family left the two alone in the well house with a cheery 'Good luck'. When they were alone, Kagome and Inuyasha walked up to the well. Before jumping down, Kagome offered Inuyasha a quick smile but only got a thoughtful expression back from the half demon.

Seeing the troubled looked from Inuyasha, Kagome tilted her head to the side with confusion. "What's wrong?" She asked a second time, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's nothing." Inuyasha huffed, his eyes turning away from Kagome for a moment. But he couldn't leave it alone any longer. "I had a nightmare last night, about how Naraku tricked me and Kikyo. But then it wasn't about Kikyo, it was about Naraku hurting you."

Kagome nodded, understanding Inuyasha's worry. "We'll be fine Inuyasha. No matter what happens, we'll be ok. Because we trust each other, Naraku won't be able to trick us like what happened to you and Kikyo in the past."

Inuyasha turned to Kagome, meeting her brown eyes with his. His mind still couldn't get away from the nightmare the night before. It seemed so real, like he was back when it happened; when Kikyo pinned him to the sacred tree and bound him in a spell where he slept for 50 years before Kagome found him. It was what tore him and Kikyo apart and he wouldn't admit his weakness but it was a great fear of his that Naraku would capture Kagome and he would be too weak to save her.

The half demon slung the backpack on his shoulder and picked Kagome up in his arms. Without saying anything else, Inuyasha gave Kagome a quick kiss on the cheek which seemed to put the smile back on her face before they jumped down into the well and back to the Feudal Era.

When they got to the other side, no one was there to greet their arrival. Helping Kagome out of the well, they headed towards the village where they were sure they would find their friends. They had been gone a whole two days without the rest of the group knowing if they made up from the argument. The group has no idea what had happened in the last two days – Kagome and Inuyasha left being in a huge argument and now they were coming back as engaged to be married? It was a total 180 degree change!

When they arrived at the village, the people were out and about either farming or rebuilding houses. The two walked to Keade's hut and were about to announce that they were back when Kagome was suddenly tackled by something furry.

"Kagome! I thought you were never coming back!" Shippo cried as the little fox kit clung onto her neck. "I thought Inuyasha messed up real bad this time and you weren't going to come back!"

"Oh Shippo!" Kagome laughed as she pulled the little the kit from her neck to hold him in her arms. "No no, Inuyasha and I aren't fighting anymore," she laughed, and smiled at the half demon beside her. "In fact, we're far from fighting."

"Huh, what's that supposed to mean?" Shippo questioned, jumping from Kagome's arms onto Inuyasha's shoulder. "I thought because Kagome didn't come back, that you really messed up. Did you do something right for a change?"

A growl came from the half demon as he tried to grab Shippo but the little fox demon was already in Kagome's arms, hiding away from Inuyasha's threatening attack.

"Ah Kagome you have returned to us," Miroku greeted as he and Sango walked out from the hut to see the two were back. "We were beginning to think that you weren't coming back."

Sango nodded at Miroku's words. "Inuyasha must have done something right for a change."

Inuyasha's growl grew louder as he glared at his friends in front of him. "What is that supposed to mean! I do things right!"

Kagome couldn't help but laugh as she watched the half demon growl at their friends. "Inuyasha calm down will you, they're just joking. Of course you do things right. But you got to admit; sometimes you can over do it at times."

The half demon turned around with a frustrated look on his face. "Kagome how could you! You're my mate – supposed to be on my side!"

Sango, Miroku and Shippo who up until then were giggling at Inuyasha's frustration suddenly drew quiet as they heard Inuyasha's remark. _"Mate!"_ They all said questionably with wide eyes.

Inuyasha and Kagome turned to their friends with questioning looks and then realized their outcry. "Oh yeah, uhh… about that. Inuyasha and I aren't fighting anymore – far from it actually. Umm well you see… we're kind of mates now."

Shippo jumped up on Inuyasha's shoulder again. "Wait, you asked Kagome to be your mate?" His green eyes were wide with curiosity.

Inuyasha folded his arms into his haori sleeves. "Yeah, what of it?" He asked gruffly, not comfortable with all of the attention he was getting.

The monk, fox demon and demon exterminator were quiet for a moment, looking at each other and then at the half demon. "Yup, Inuyasha did something right for a change."

Inuyasha growled again as he showed a fist to his friends. "What is that's supposed to mean!"

o-o-o-o

Kagome and Inuyasha took turns explaining what the others missed during supper of ramen noodles. They explained everything that happened from the moment Kagome and Inuyasha had run out into the storm.

After the explanation was over, the group got down to work and started to plan their attack on Naraku. The evil demon had to be stopped; there were so many lives at stake.

Miroku's curse, the Wind Tunnel would be lifted when Naraku would be killed. The Wind Tunnel curse was created when Naraku placed it on Miroku's grandfather that would pass through the males in each generation; Miroku being the current. Each year, the Wind Tunnel would grow bigger until it was uncontrollable and would suck everything up into its path – including Miroku in his death.

Another reason was for Sango's younger brother Kohaku to be saved from his evil slavery under Naraku's control. It all started during one night when the strongest of their family's demon slayers – including Sango, their father and men of the village – went to a nearby castle to kill a demon that was plaguing the kingdom. It was Kohaku's first time going out on an extermination – but the night ended in bloodshed and horrible deaths. Kohaku was controlled by the demon under Naraku's control and killed everyone in the demon slayer team, including their father. To make things worse, while the strongest slayers were out a hoard of demons attacked Sango's village and killed everyone – leaving Sango all alone and out for revenge.

Naraku continued to use Kohaku for his evil ploy; using a Shikon Jewel shard in the boy's back to keep him alive for his evil dirty work. Kohaku had none of his memories, he couldn't remember the night he killed everyone and he couldn't remember Sango was his older sister. Sango had been plagued by nightmares ever since, seeing her younger brother being controlled by the evil demon Naraku.

After supper was cleaned up, the group decided that they would leave tomorrow morning. With everything already packed up, they suddenly didn't have anything to do. With nothing to do, the girls decided to take a soak in the hot springs nearby.

As the girls left, the guys stayed at the hut to continue planning their attack on Naraku. When the girl's voices faded as they walked towards the hot springs, Keade excused herself from the hut to go and check up on a child in the village who had come down with a cold. That left Miroku, Inuyasha and Shippo alone in the hut.

While the little fox demon sat on the floor colouring with his crayons and the half demon sat against the wall with his eyes closed. That left the monk to tend to the fire, and let his perverted mind wander.

"So…" The monk started.

Inuyasha's eyes opened, a growl already starting in his throat. "What?"

"Oh nothing. Just wanted to congratulate you on asking Kagome to be with you," Miroku laughed.

"That so?" Inuyasha's eyebrow raised behind his bangs, the growl was growing more in his throat.

"Yes. It's one of the steps to becoming a man," Miroku nodded wisely. But Inuyasha could see the glint in his purple eyes.

Shippo looked up from his colouring and looked at the monk. "Steps to becoming a man? What's the next step Miroku?" The young kit questioned.

"Ah what a great question to ask Shippo," Miroku nodded. "You see, when two people love each other very much…."

_WHAM!_

"Not in front of the kid you pervert!" Inuyasha growled, his fist steaming from the hit he just gave the monk who now lay on the ground swirly eyed. His head was bowed so the fox demon wouldn't see that there was a slight blush on his cheeks.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile in the forest where the girls were at the hot springs, Kagome and Sango were enjoying the peacefulness of the hot water. The two girls were quiet for a while, just letting the hot water soak into their sore muscles. After a while of relaxing, Kagome opened her eyes and looked over at Sango who was looking off into the trees in thought.

"Are you ok Sango?" The raven haired girl asked as she watched the demon slayer sign heavily. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh it's nothing. Just thinking about useless things," the demon slayer laughed, waving her hand as if the topic on her mind wasn't anything to be concerned about.

"Thinking about a certain monk?" Kagome guessed and couldn't help but giggle when she watched Sango's expression turn to shock and then turn red with blush.

"Wh-What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about Kagome. I wouldn't waste my time worrying about that lecherous monk," the demon exterminator stammered, her face turning a brighter red.

But after a moment of stammering the demon exterminator calmed down. Sango sighed again, "It's just so romantic how Inuyasha confessed his love to you Kagome."

Kagome smiled, a tint of blush appearing on her cheeks as she thought about Inuyasha. "Yeah... Too bad Miroku isn't like that, eh Sango?" She asked, letting her smile turn into a smirk.

"Yeah..." Sango sighed in a daydream-like way but then caught herself. "Wait, what!" The demon slayer knew that she let her feeling slip out and couldn't stop the blush from highlighting her face. She hid lower in the water to try and hide the embarrassment.

"Sango calmed down, it's alright." Kagome laughed as she tried to settle the other girl down. "You don't have to cover it up; I know you have strong feelings for Miroku. I'm sure Miroku will express his feelings to you someday, I'm sure he's just waiting for the right time."

The young demon slayer was quiet for a moment, letting Kagome's words sink in. With another sign, Sango looked up at her best friend and smiled. "I hope you're right Kagome. Thanks, for everything."

"Of course," Kagome smiled

After Kagome's comment, there was a pause of silence between the girls. They stayed in the hot springs for a little while longer, soaking in the relaxing feeling of the water. After a little while, the girls were about to get out but not before asking Kilala to check the area around them for any one, lecherous monk or otherwise. When Kilala came back with nothing to report the girls got out and got dressed.

"I'm surprised that Miroku did come and try to take a peek... not that I want him to," Sango said but added the last part defensively.

"Don't worry Sango, no need to get all defensive. Besides, I'm sure Inuyasha held him back so he couldn't come." Kagome giggled as she fixed the ribbon on her shirt.

o-o-o-o

When the girls were changed and had their things packed up, they headed back to the village to rejoin the guys at Keade's hut. They were in the middle of giggling at a joke Sango was sharing when they entered the hut and saw Miroku laying on the floor swirly eyed, Inuyasha sitting against the wall with his hands in his sleeves.

"Why did you have to whack him so many times?" Shippo asked as he finished one colouring and moved onto the next.

"He was bugging me," Inuyasha said simply as he opened his eyes and looked up at Kagome who sat down beside him. "And I knocked him out so he couldn't go after the girls."

Sango couldn't hold in her laugh as she looked down at the unconscious monk. The young demon slayer kneeled down to help Miroku up from the floor. "What a troublesome monk," She laughed.

"Don't see why you're helping him Sango," Inuyasha huffed while sitting beside Kagome. "If you help him up, he's just going to…"

_WHACK! SMACK!_

"See what I mean," Inuyasha pointed out as she watched Miroku's hand migrate south towards Sango's rear.

"You stupid perverted monk!" Sango yelled as she threw the again-unconscious monk onto the floor, fresh hand marks on his face to go with the goose-egg the half demon had given him earlier.


	9. On the Road

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 9 – On the Road

The morning started early, everyone wanted to make good use of the day ahead in their travels. After a quick and quiet breakfast, the group packed their things and bid farewell to the old priestess Keade. With farewells and goodbyes from Keade, the group made their way through the village and along the way they got wishes of good luck from passing villagers.

The trek was up and down hills through the countryside, the weather was good - sunny and no sign of any rain. While on the road, the group conversed about their upcoming battle with Naraku. Their battle with the evil demon had span over four long years, and they finally got this far. Almost all of the jewel shards where found and the group had finally sought out Naraku's hidden castle.

"What about the rest of the shards?" Shippo questioned while perched on Kagome's shoulder as he watched the young priestess hold the jar of shards in her hand.

They had only two shards in their possession. In the past couple of months, they didn't come across any jewel shards in their searches. Kagome had speculated that they couldn't find any more shards because there weren't very many left.

"Naraku has almost the entire jewel in his possession." Kagome explained out loud as she watched the jewel sparkle in the jar in her hand. "I don't think there are many shards left to collect."

"Well, we know that Sango's brother Kohaku has one of the shards in his back, keeping him alive." Shippo thought out loud, counting the remaining shards on his fingers. "And the wolf demon Koga has two jewel shards in his legs, making him unbelievably fast."

"Naraku has almost the whole jewel and we're going up against him with two shards? Talk about one sided." Inuyasha sighed, his arms hidden in his sleeves as he walked at the front of the group. He fell quiet for a moment; his thoughts going back to a fleeting idea that he had thought of last night; a possible way to defeat Naraku. But the half demon thought against voicing his idea – he figured Kagome wouldn't like his idea very much.

"Don't be so negative Inuyasha." Shippo called out to the half demon while still sitting on Kagome's shoulder. "We'll think of something to get at Naraku."

The group fell silent again as they continued their trek across the country side. They made their way through small villages, stopping now and again to rid of petty demons that were troubling the humans. It took them the rest of the day's light to make it half way to Naraku's castle.

As they left the countryside and villages, they made their way through a thick forest that gave way to the mountain side. They were almost there, only a couple more hours of walking and they would be Naraku's castle. But the sun was dipping lower in the sky and the group decided to call it a night, for it wasn't wise to walk through the night. Who knew what kind of traps Naraku was hiding in the dark.

The only thing that hadn't been thought of was where they were going to set up camp for the night. As they were running out of daylight, the demon exterminator suddenly stopped walking, the expression on her face showing sadness.

Kagome watched as Sango slowed down from walking with the rest of the group. "What's the matter Sango?" The young priestess asked as she saw that Kilala mirrored Sango's emotion by giving a low sad whine.

"We should stop here for the night." Sango announced, the rest of the group looking up to where she was pointing. The forest was growing dark from the setting sun but just over the tops of the trees, they were able to see the giant log wall, the once powerful demon slayer village where Sango used to live. "We can stay in my village for the night."

Without saying anything else, the group followed Sango and Kilala into what once was their village. Sango looked around the village – buildings that were once houses were falling apart from the weather, no one there to make repairs. The houses that families of Sango's memories were falling apart, holes in the roofs, porches caved in. The grass had claimed the soil once more from where the fires as killed everything in its path.

The sun dipped below the giant wall of the village so everything already seemed like nightfall in the village. The group walked behind Sango as she led the way, not making a sound as they heard nothing.

Nothing. Empty. Lifeless.

Sango was about to say something when the eerie silence was broken by the sound of a twig snapping. She jumped, not expecting to hear any sound in the dead village. Her eyes targeted the noise but her heart fell when she saw that it was a family of deer. The baby fawn has stepped on the twig which made both the deer and the group freeze where they were. Any kind of noise, even the tiniest whisper was echoed in the dead village. Sango kept her eyes on the two deer, the mother deer doing the same to Sango but then she moved, leading her baby away into the darkness behind a house.

"Come on Sango." Miroku whispered beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. The demon slayer just looked up at him and followed without saying anything.

The group soon came across the main house where the leader of the village used to live – Sango's old house where she used to live with her father and brother Kohaku. The demon slayer walked into the empty house, holes in the roof and in the floor, the rice paper shoji doors were ripped and burned away from fires. She took a moment to take it all in; so empty, so dead. After a moment or two, the demon slayer and Kilala left the house and went to the corner of the village where she had buried their fallen villagers, their friends, their families.

Inuyasha and Miroku decided to go and gather wood for the fire which left Kagome and Shippo to tend to making supper. After the supper soup was boiling steadily over the fire, Kagome walked outside onto the porch to get some fresh air. The sun was still setting behind the wall, casting different colours splashed over the skies.

The group sat in what once was the living room of the house, a small fire going in the middle of the room that cast a warm but eerie glow around the empty room. They left one of the shoji doors open to the outside porch to watch the sun set as they ate their supper.

After their supper was done, Sango went to sharpen her tools in the corner of the room while Miroku watched Shippo and Kilala play around the room. Kagome found Inuyasha sitting outside on the porch and went to join him.

"The sky is so pretty, with all the colours that remind me of all my friends." Kagome said as she looked up at the sky and the colours that were shown as the sun continued to set.

"How so?" Inuyasha questioned while sitting beside her.

She saw the dog demon turn to look at her and she continued, smiling up at the sky. "Each colour reminds me of each of my friends; the yellow is Kilala, orange is Shippo, pink is Sango and purple is Miroku." She looked at Inuyasha and smiled. "And the red reminds me of you."

Inuyasha took a moment to think about what Kagome just said and then looked back up at the sky, seeing all the different colours. "Only you would point something out like that, Kagome. You always seen things that other people can't see." He said, his eyes still up at the sky.

With Inuyasha's words dying off into silence, the two continued to watch the sun set behind the mountains on the other end of the village. The sunset had a calming feeling; everyone drew quiet as the day was coming to an end.

Everyone was quiet and peaceful, that is until Inuyasha broke the silence by swearing.

"Shit!" The half demon growled.

Kagome turned to her mate and let out a surprised gasp. Everyone nearby heard the dog demon swear and came to investigate. What they came outside to see was that the Inuyasha was no longer a half demon.

"Inuyasha, you're human!" Kagome stated, running her fingers through his now-black hair. She looked up at the night sky, there was no moon. The night of the new moon was Inuyasha's human night.

Inuyasha's dog ears were now gone, turned into normal human ears. His golden eyes turned a deep violet colour and his claws shrunk into normal finger nails. "Goddammit!" The now-human Inuyasha growled but it didn't sound like his normal dog demon growl.

"Good thing we still have at least another day to get to Naraku. That would have been horrible to have gotten to the castle tonight when you clearly don't keep track of the moon phases." Miroku stated standing behind Kagome.

"Gee Miroku, that makes me feel a whole lot better." Inuyasha said sarcastically but then sighed. "Well, there goes my night of sleep." Every half demon's time where they lose their demon powers is different for each individual; some during the day, some at night – Inuyasha's happened to fall on the night of the new moon so he never got any sleep that night for he was too worried of his enemies discovering his secret. If his enemies knew of this time, he would never be safe.

"Oh come Inuyasha, we all need to rest up for the battle ahead." Sango said while standing beside Miroku with Kilala on her shoulder. "No one is going to be coming into this village, you could at least get a few hours of sleep. We can take shifts on guard."

It took him a moment to think it over. He had always been protective – borderline paranoid – about sleeping or letting his guard down on the night of the new moon. It had always been something he had to protect most of all when he was living on his own. But seeing his friends around him, offering to take shifts watching guard, he took a moment to reflect on how much had changed since meeting his friends.

So everyone got ready to go to sleep. Inuyasha went to patrol around the area for a moment before turning guard duty over to Sango. Kagome unrolled her sleeping bag and Miroku made sure that the fire was out so that no demons would be attracted to it while they were sleeping. Kilala transformed into her larger form and the two-tail and the demon slayer made their way over to one of the trees outside and set up for guard duty. Kilala laid down, resting her head on her paws but keeping her eyes and ears alert and Sango rested her giant boomerang in arm's reach just in case.

Inuyasha walked over to the corner of the room and slumped down, resting his back against the wall with Tetsusaiga resting on his shoulder. He watched as everyone else got ready for bed and then turned to where Sango and Kilala were watching guard. _'I know I'm not going to get any sleep tonight.'_ He thought to himself. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sango or Kilala, he just couldn't help but he couldn't help but be paranoid about his secret. He closed his eyes, doubting that he would fall asleep. But the moment he allowed his body to relax, he suddenly felt really tired and in a few minutes sleep over took him and he drifted into a dream.

o-o-o-o

The next morning, Inuyasha was woken up by the sun peering through the open shoji door. "Damn sun." He mumbled gruffly but then paused as he registered that it was morning. _'The sun?'_ He looked at his hands; he had claws again. He reached up and felt the top of his head; he had his dog ears back. He was a half demon once again, the night of the new moon had ended and it was morning.

"Good morning." A voice to his right caught his attention. Looking over, he saw that Kagome was already awake, sitting up in her sleeping bag and brushing her hair. The young girl smiled over at the half demon and offered him a bowl of the soup they made for breakfast. "Did you have a good sleep? Don't worry, we each took shifts watching out for demons."

Inuyasha took the offered bowl of breakfast and looked back at his mate. "All night?" Was all he managed to get ask as he looked over and saw that Sango and Miroku were already awake and having breakfast.

"Shippo tried to stay up too but he was too tired and fell asleep a little while after you did." Kagome smiled, looking down at the sleeping fox demon in her sleeping bag.

Inuyasha didn't say anything for a while and just looked between Kagome and the sleeping fox. They did that for him? After all he had put them through; the fights and the gruffness of his attitude and they still helped him. He didn't say anything but just got up to his feet and looked around to see where Sango and Miroku were. "Well… are we going to be leaving yet?" Was all that he could manage to ask.

After the sleeping fox demon was woken up and breakfast was eaten, the group packed everything up. They left Kagome's big yellow backpack and other items not needed locked up in one of the secret rooms of Sango's old house so that they could lighten the load for the battle. They were only a few hours away from Naraku's castle so they figured that when they were on their way back to Keade's village they would be staying another night in the demon slayer's village.

They were finally going to go after Naraku's castle and end his evil ways once and for all.


	10. Final Battle

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 10 - Final Battle

With everything taken care of, they set out onto the road towards Naraku's castle. Soon after leaving the demon slayer village, they saw the ominous black clouds hanging over the mountain ahead. As they neared the mountain, they walked by corpses of dead farm animals, suffocated from the thick miasma in the atmosphere. The grass died off, there were no signs of living animals around the area as they ventured closer to the mountain.

As they approached the castle, Kagome could feel a very strong force ahead. "Inuyasha, there's a barrier around the castle." She said from where she was being carried on the half demon's back.

"Right," Inuyasha nodded as he continued to jump from rock ledge to rock ledge. The group came up to the top of the mountain and right in front of them was Naraku's castle. There were giant walls that surrounded the castle and if looked at closely one could see the almost translucent effects of the barrier.

Kagome and Shippo got off of Inuyasha's back and the half demon unsheathed Tetsusaiga. He lifted it over his head and closed his eyes, concentrating on his sword. The mighty blade pulsated and turned a bright crimson red.

"Wind Scar!" Inuyasha yelled and swung his sword. Giant claw marks erupted from the blade and attacked the barrier. The translucent barrier withered and squirmed for a moment, trying to stay up but it was no match for the red Tetsusaiga and soon disappeared into nothing.

With the barrier gone, the group was able to enter the castle. They slowly walked up to the entrance of the castle. Surprisingly, there were no demons or other barriers to block their way. Inuyasha got Tetsusaiga ready and Sango unhitched her boomerang. Kagome got an arrow strung and Miroku was ready with his staff. Kilala's fur bristled as she growled and Shippo stayed on her back, he couldn't help but shiver in fear.

Inuyasha took one last look at everyone. "Ready guys?" He asked and not a nod from everyone in the group, everyone eager to put this battle to an end once and for all. He looked down at Kagome who was standing beside him and he wrapped an arm around her waist, feeling her shivering. He gave her a small smile, kissing her quickly on the forehead before turning to everyone in the group again. "Let's do this," He smirked, transforming Tetsusaiga into its fang form.

With everyone pumped and ready to kick some major demon ass, Inuyasha used Tetsusaiga to break down the giant door. Wood splinters flew everywhere and when the dust settled, the group ran inside and found themselves in a giant empty court yard. It was quiet, only the wind blowing until they heard laughter echoing throughout the area. The evil laugh of the demon everyone hated so much.

"Naraku, show yourself!" Inuyasha yelled at the top of his lungs. "Come out and show your ugly face! Or are you too chicken to fight to the death."

"Inuyasha," The voice echoed through the castle ground and thunder rumbled through the sky. "You're a man of big words, but can you fight like a man?" Naraku's laugh erupted from his hiding place again.

"We have the same question for you. We can take you on," Sango yelled while standing beside Miroku. She held her boomerang ready while she tried to keep her hands from shaking. "We're here to put a stop to your evil, twisted plot. To avenge all the people you have killed that were so dear to us. And for all the innocent people you've killed."

"Touching speech slayer but can you back it up?" There was a flash of lightning from the storming sky above and then from the castle, hundreds of demons burst out and charged at Inuyasha and the others. They were ugly; venom dripping from their open jaws, some missing their eyeballs and blood oozed from the sockets. Boney bats and featherless birds flew in the air and gave horrible screams from their bent muzzles.

"This is it everyone," Miroku said as he took a battle stance, holding the prayer beads around his wrist, ready to draw upon the Wind Tunnel. "The war has begun."

Inuyasha let out a loud growl, getting ready to attack the demons as he watched them charged towards them. He gripped the hilt of his sword together and was about to charge at the demons when a pink arrow whizzed by him, wiping out two rows of demons ahead of him. He turned back with wide eyes to see Kagome string another arrow. "K-Kagome?"

The young priestess was glowing pink as she let another arrow fly towards the demons, disintegrating another row of the oncoming demons. The demons howled in pain as the light burned their skin but the rest of the demons continued to charge forward. Sango and the others each got ready and then ran ahead to attack the oncoming demons.

Sango threw her giant boomerang towards the demons. Her Hiraikotsu spun through the air, reddish flames glowing around the weapon as it captured the demon aura to destroy the enemies. Inuyasha took one last look at Kagome who was standing with Kilala and then jumped into action, swinging his sword left and right cutting through bodies.

Miroku was standing near the demon slayer and the dog demon and used his Wind Tunnel to suck up destroyed demons to assure that they wouldn't be revived again. In the past they had seen Naraku use dead demon bodies to grown stronger so they wanted to eliminate any possibility of Naraku growing any stronger. But the monk didn't realize how many demons would be attacking them, hundreds of thousands of demons filled the courtyard and the amount of demons he had sucked up already was taking a toll on his body. Deciding to take a break from using the Wind Tunnel, Miroku closed his hand and wrapped the prayer beads around his wrist.

But that was when he saw that the skin around the edge of the Wind Tunnel was starting to turn black, spreading around the flesh of his hand and climbing up his forearm. He could feel the sting of the miasma coursing through his veins. Looking around, he saw that no one noticed his pain and he swallowed down the pain as he turned back to the demons with his sutras.

Kagome stayed behind, standing beside Kilala in her saber form with Shippo on the demon cat's back. The young girl strung another arrow but this time instead of firing at the countless demons, she closed her eyes and concentrated on trying to find the sacred jewel, for she knew that if she would be able to find the jewel, she would be able to find Naraku's hiding place.

There… no, there… no… it was too fuzzy, she was unable to hone in on the scared jewel's signal. There was too much noise from dying demons and her friends in battle that she couldn't concentrate hard enough to find where Naraku was hiding.

"Kagome watch out!" She heard Shippo cry out beside her and she opened her eyes to see a trio of demons coming straight at her. She had been too busy concentrating that she didn't see them coming at her.

Kilala acted fast; jumping in front of the young priestess and grabbing one of the demons in her powerful jaws, her saber teeth breaking right through the demons neck. The snake-like creature gave a blood chilling scream with the last of its breath as it bled out from the neck. Kilala didn't waste any time and ripped the jugular out of the first demon before turning to the second to do the same. But while going after the second demon, the third sank its poisonous fangs into the cat demon's shoulder.

Kagome acted quickly and used the strung arrow on her bow to blow apart the demon attacking Kilala. With the demons dead around them, Kagome took a moment to address Kilala's bleeding shoulder. It didn't look too deep and the giant cat demon shook it off and went back to attacking nearby demons.

Inuyasha saw the attack on Kilala and as he finished off the demons around him, he rushed back to Kagome to make sure she was safe. But when he managed to get back to her, her eyes were closed again as she concentrated. He gasped as he watched Kagome start to glow pink again. "Kagome?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder but instantly pulled it back as her priestess power burned his flesh. He looked at his hand with a horrified expression and then back to Kagome. This was not her normal powers; this was something entirely different; Kagome's powers had never hurt him before.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha," Kagome whispered as she heard the half demon hiss in pain. Her eyes were still closed as she strung another arrow on her bow. "I'm trying to find Naraku," Her expression showed that she was in pain as she tried honing in on the jewel again. "There!" She cried, letting her arrow fly in the direction of the corner of the castle.

As the arrow hit the corner tower of the courtyard, Kagome's priestess powers encountering Naraku's evil presence caused a powerful explosion to rock the battle ground. Demons that were hiding in the tower cried out in pain as the pink light of Kagome's powers burnt their skin. The tower blew apart from the explosion, raining wood planks and stones down to the ground from the destruction.

Another of Naraku's laughs echoed through the courtyard as the smoke cleared from the explosion. "So little priestess, you found me have you."

Inuyasha didn't waste any time and jumped after where the voice came from in the corner of the court yard. The half demon was about to swing his mighty sword in an attack when a gust of wind came from nowhere, throwing him back.

The laughter of a female caught their attention as they watched a female demon emerge from the destroyed corner tower. It was Kagura, the wind sorceress and minion to Naraku. Her blood red eyes turned to the half demon getting up to his feet. "What's the matter Inuyasha, can't stand a little breeze?" The sorceress laughed, holding her fan in front of her face.

A growl erupted from Inuyasha as he got up to his feet, getting his sword ready to strike down the wind sorceress. He was about to jump after the demon ahead when he saw Kilala come up beside him, offering to help fight against Kagura. Inuyasha looked over at the two tailed demon and nodded in thanks, the two of them jumping after Kagura.

All of a sudden everyone heard the familiar buzzing noise in the air. Looking up, everyone saw none other than a swarm of Saimiochyo, demon bees that were controlled by Naraku. There were hundreds of them in the air.

Although knowing the poison from the bees would surely render Miroku useless for the remaining of the battle, he knew that he was the only one who could get rid of the Saimiochyo. Pulling away his beads, Miroku threw out his hand and braced his body for the coming of the bee poison.

"Miroku no!" Sango yelled out in horror as she saw the monk using his Wind Tunnel against the bees. She knew that he wouldn't last long against the bees and abandoned her battle against the demons to run to the monk.

The stinging feeling was intensified as soon as he sucked in the first bee but he didn't stop. Glancing down at his right hand, his eyes widened when he saw that the miasma marks were spreading from his palm up his arm. The pain rocked through his body which forced him to fall to his knees with a violent cough.

Sango made it to Miroku just as the monk fell to his knees. Acting quickly, the demon slayer pulled Miroku's prayer beads over his wrist and with an angry cry she threw her boomerang towards the poisonous bees and turned back to the fallen monk. She pulled him up onto her lap and gasped when she saw that he had been coughing up blood. She could sense the presence of miasma and turned to roll up his sleeve on his right hand and gasped again when she saw the mark of poison. It was almost like claws crawling up his arm towards his chest.

"Miroku what have you done?" Sango whispered as she looked down at the wounded man on her lap. "You shouldn't have pushed yourself that hard."

"I had to," The monk whispered back as he wiped away the blood from his chin. "What kind of man would I be if I couldn't protect the woman I loved?"

Sango's eyes were already watering from seeing Miroku in pain but at his comment, the tears spilled over her cheeks as she pulled the monk close. "Oh Miroku," She sobbed quietly.

Their quiet moment was ruined when the Hiraikotsu flew back to Sango and landed in the dirt beside the two. The demon slayer helped the monk to his feet and grabbed her loyal weapon. As they got up to their feet they both froze when they heard a faint noise behind them.

Turning around, they saw the white demon, Kanna of the void who was another of Naraku's minions. She appeared as a young girl dressed completely in white with a vacant expression on her face. The mirror in her possession was able to collect souls of humans to use in Naraku's evil plans. With a quick nod to each other, they both ran after the small white demon; Miroku trying to use his sacred sutras to immobilize Kanna while Sango drew out the sword at her waist.

Another flash of lightening came from the sky as thunder rumbled after it. But as the lightening in the sky flashed, another flash of light came from the castle main house where more demons charged into battle. Sango and Miroku turned away from Kanna for a moment to try and fend off the minion demons but that was when Kanna took the opportunity to strike back. The mirror in her little hands started to glow white, looking for the closest soul to devour.

The demon exterminator was busy trying to fight off the lesser demons when she suddenly felt very weak. Looking down, she saw that her chest had started to glow a soft light. Her heart suddenly gave a shudder and Sango fell to her knees, dropping her boomerang and clutching her chest in pain.

Miroku heard Sango gasp and turned around to see Sango's soul rising from her body. "Sango!" He cried out, looking around to spot Kanna and her mirror glowing, calling Sango's soul towards the mirror. Without a second thought, the monk raced over, staff in hand and jumped at Kanna. The little demon looked up at the oncoming monk with lifeless eyes and didn't move when Miroku stabbed his staff into her mirror, breaking it.

The white demon gave a quiet gasp as her mirror shattered in her hands, the souls being released from the glass. Sango's body stopped glowing, her soul returning to the demon slayer as the white demon fell to her knees. Kanna was never one for many words and as such, silently turned to dust in her death – all that was left was her mirror that fell to the ground.

With the white demon gone, Miroku turned to make sure that the demon exterminator was alright. Pulling Sango up into his lap, he waited a moment before Sango opened her eyes, regaining consciousness from almost losing her soul.

Kagome watched as Miroku and Sango finished off the white demon Kanna and then turned to watch Inuyasha and Kilala tag team to fight against Kagura.

The half demon jumped at Kagura, bringing his sword down towards the sorceress in an attack but she blocked the giant blade with her fan. Inuyasha gave out a growl as he pulled away his sword, allowing Kilala to jump from behind him and attack the wind demon. The saber-toothed cat demon also got her claws at Kagura's neck but the wind demon managed to beat her back with her other fan, Kilala's claws sinking into the fan.

It was a sight to see, the wind demon blocking both Inuyasha's sword and the demon cat's claws. But Inuyasha's keen senses caught Kagura's weak spot as she turned to deflect Kilala's attack. The half demon took the opportunity and kicked Kagura in the knee. Her legs buckled and she fell to the ground, Kilala knocking away one of her fans.

Kagura gave a growl as she watched Inuyasha raise his sword to finish her off. She hated Inuyasha for she knew this was it, she was going to die – but then at the same time, she thanked the half demon for setting her free from Naraku's evil grasp. Without any words spoken, Inuyasha raised his sword and delivered the final blow, cutting into her flesh.

Kagura gave a grunt as blood spilled from her mouth. Looking down, her hands were covered in blood from where she grasped the wound in her chest. While on her knees, she looked around, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes as a breeze blew through her hair – as if calling her to join the free wind. She sat there on the ground, blood flowing from her open wound, taking her last breath. She silently thanked Inuyasha and the others for finally setting her free from the evil grasp of Naraku. She had never been her own person, just a tool to be controlled by Naraku and she could finally be free like the wind, just like she always wanted and dreamed of.

Inuyasha stood there, breathing heavily as he watched Kagura die. Kagura's face showed peace and tranquility as her body turned to ashes right before his eyes. The wind around the courtyard picked up, taking away the demon sorceress's ashes away into the free air.

With Kagura defeated and no other demons flying out of the main building, Inuyasha took a moment to catch his breath before turning to where Kagome thought Naraku was hiding. Miroku helped Sango up to her feet, her body still recovering from almost losing her soul and together they turned to where they heard Naraku's laughter erupt again.

Naraku's laughter gave Kagome chills as she and Shippo stayed behind where Kilala had left them to aid Inuyasha in battle. But as she was standing there, Kagome gave a gasp as she felt the presence of a jewel shard ahead where Naraku's voice was coming from. She could only think of one person who had one jewel shard and her heart sank when she saw who emerged from the shadows next. Her eyes instantly turned to Sango.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	11. Battlefield

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 11 – Battlefield

Kohaku – it was Sango's brother was who emerged from the shadows.

Miroku also saw who came from the shadows and he turned his eyes to Sango with worry. She was still breathing heavily from Kanna's attack and now her little brother had entered into the battle. They all knew this was going to be part of the final battle, even Sango herself knew it was going to happen but it didn't stop the pain. The monk was about to reach out to her with his hand when the demon slayer took a step forward, walking toward her little brother in their final battle.

Sango looked back at her friends, her maroon colour eyes glowing with pain. "No one interfere. This is my battle and my battle alone." She turned back to her younger brother who continued to walk across the courtyard. The demon slayer bowed her head for a moment, a tear running down her cheek as she remembered her younger brother's warm smile from the past. _'Kohaku... I'm sorry... I couldn't save you before and now...' _But she didn't finish her thought and took off into a run towards her little brother.

The group watched as Sango ran after her little brother. They turned to watch Kohaku reach the middle of the courtyard, the young boy's eyes were empty with Naraku's control. The young boy, not even fifteen years old was dressed in the traditional demon exterminator outfit like his older sisters, only his was green and his weapon was the chain sai.

Sango chocked back a lump in her throat as she gripped her giant boomerang. This was it; this was the battle where she would stop Naraku's control on her younger brother. He had been under Naraku's control for almost four years and now she would end his suffering once and for all.

"Ko-Kohaku," She stammered as she ran faster towards her brother. Her body braced itself as she watched Kohaku throw his weapon towards her. The demon huntress blocked the chain sai with her boomerang and jumped into the air. She could see an opening to attack her brother and drew her sword but a pain in her heart stopped her; she couldn't bring herself to end her brother's life. She was fighting with her brother but also fighting with herself not to hurt him. But she knew that this was the only way to stop the control – it was just too painful to think about.

She put her sword away just in time to block another attacks from Kohaku's chain sai. Her body froze, unable to do anything but block and dodge Kohaku's relentless attacks. The female demon exterminator was suddenly shocked when Kohaku threw his weapon in such a way that it pushed past her defenses and gouged her shoulder.

"Sango!" Miroku called out as he watched the demon exterminator fall to her knees from the sudden wound.

"Do not interfere Miroku," Sango called back while gripping her wounded shoulder. Her brother's chain sai suddenly came at her again, this time using her Hiraikotsu to block it but the sickle weapon wrapped around the giant boomerang and both were cast aside, leave the demon slayer siblings to use their swords.

_'I don't want to kill you little brother...'_ Sango thought as she ducked another swing that came at her. _'... but I will end your suffering. It's the only thing I can do to save you.'_ She bit her lip as she fought back the tears from spilling over. Her heart was breaking as she thought about ending her brother's life. After Kohaku was gone, she would be alone – her village and her family would all be dead and she would be alone in the world.

But while she froze to think about how alone she would be, the demon slayer lost her balance while dodging her brother and tripped on a rock in her path. She hit the hard ground, her sword falling away from her reach as she tumbled down a hill in the courtyard.

Kagome and Miroku gasped in fear for Sango's life and were about to run after the slayer but Inuyasha called out, reminding them that it was Sango's wish for them to leave her to this battle alone.

She tumbled down the hill until she landed beside something hard. Coughing a little from the wind being knocked out of her, she opened her eyes and saw that she had landed beside her fallen Hiraikotsu. She got to her feet and picked up her fallen weapon just in time to block another of Kohaku's attacks. While she fought to block her brother's attack, she looked into his lifeless eyes and saw that he wasn't there anymore – he had already passed away those years ago and Naraku was just using his body.

With tears in her eyes, Sango overpowered the boy demon slayer with her boomerang and kicked him in the stomach. The boy gave a gasp for air as he fell to the ground on his knees. Sango wasted no time and kicked away his sword, gripping his shoulders so he wouldn't go after his weapon.

They kneeled there for a moment, Sango holding on to her younger brother's shoulders, her own shaking from sobs. The tears couldn't be held back any longer as they spilled over her cheeks. Sango held her little brother's shoulder with one hand, the other holding her sword against his throat. "I'm sorry little brother. I couldn't protect you, but now you'll be able to rest in peace," Sango chocked as she looked into his eyes again and reminded herself once more that he wasn't there. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down but it wasn't working – she knew what she had to do but it hurt so much.

With a final goodbye, she flipped her sword in her hand and with the blunt end of the handle she punched Kohaku in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and making him fall to the ground. With a shaky hand and tears streaming down her cheeks, she removed the tainted jewel shard from his back.

With the power of the Shikon Jewel removed from his body, Kohaku let out a gasp in pain. His eyes went back to their normal chocolate brown colour as he glanced around for a moment, his lungs craving air. He was dying all over again. The power of the jewel had been what was keeping him alive for the past four years and without it, he wouldn't be able to survive.

The young demon exterminator tried to take deep breaths to fill his lungs with air but was choked back by a cough that brought up blood. The fatal wounds that had killed him those four years ago had reappeared. He looked around wide eyed until he landed on the girl who was sitting down beside him. "S-Sis-ter?" He croaked out as blood trickled down his chin where he laid on the ground. "Sa—San—go."

Hearing his voice again and realizing that he regained his memory of her, Sango broke down into a sob. She leaned over his broken body and whispered her final words to her little brother. "I'm so sorry Kohaku. I wasn't able to protect you," She whispered, her tears falling from her cheeks and landing on his chest.

"I-It's o-ok," Kohaku mouthed with his dying breath. He tried to lift his hand to touch his sister but was attacked by another violent series of coughs which brought up more blood from his lungs. "Sa-ango," Was all that he could get out before his last breath left his body. His body went still while in Sango's arms. Kohaku was gone.

The group watched from the distance as Kohaku died in Sango's arms. Inuyasha looked down at the ground, holding in his growl for Naraku as he paid his respects for the fallen demon slayer boy. Kagome and Shippo who were farther back of the courtyard watched silently as Sango said goodbye to her brother. Shippo curled up in Kagome's arms, both sniffling from their own tears for the demon slayer siblings.

Miroku slowly walked over to where Sango was. He hesitated for a moment, looking down at the broken girl sitting on the ground. She was crying loudly, her heart broken from losing her brother. She was now the sole survivor from her village. She was all alone. Whispering her name quietly, the monk kneeled down beside Sango and placed a hand on Kohaku's forehead, offering a silent prayer that the boy had finally found peace in the afterlife.

The thunder rolled through the sky once more, the storm far from over above the battle but the rain continued to hold off in the dark purple clouds. No more demons seemed to be appearing from the darkness, and with Kagura, Kanna and Kohaku all gone, they only had Naraku to face now.

"Such a waste, I should have known those weaklings couldn't have finished you off." Naraku's voice was heard again. Everyone turned to where the voice came from and this time, they saw where it was coming from. Naraku had finally shown himself.

"Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled, getting his sword ready to attack. "You're going to finally pay for all the pain and suffering you've caused!"

Kagome gasped as she felt the presence of the Shikon Jewel, like it was pulling her soul towards where Naraku was standing on the top of the main building's roof. Her eyes weren't as good as Inuyasha's but she could see the bright pink light that was emitting from Naraku's hand. He had almost the entire jewel!

"You retched fools think that you can defeat me?" Naraku sneered as he played with the jewel in his hand. Over the last four years the evil demon managed to collect more than half of the jewel shards and fused them together to make the jewel almost complete except for a few pieces missing; pieces that Kagome and group held.

"Naraku you bastard!" Inuyasha roared as he kicked off the ground with sword in hand. As he jumped at the evil demon, he raised his sword above his head to prepare for an attack.

"Foolish half demon. Charging in blindly as always, leaving loved ones unprotected." Naraku smirked, something bubbling under his baboon cloak. With an evil laugh, his fur pelt ripped away revealing Naraku's body of miscellaneous demon parts. One of the demon arms attached to Naraku's back grew larger and suddenly shot off past Inuyasha.

Shocked from the sudden arm coming out of nowhere, Inuyasha landed short of his attack and turned to where the appendage was going. His eyes widened when he saw that it was heading straight for Kagome. He was about to turn on his heels and jump to his mate's rescue when a large tentacle that used to be Naraku's arm wrapped around his ankle and wounds it way around his body.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as the tentacle wrapped around his throat, intending on absorbing his demonic powers to make Naraku more powerful. "Kagome!"

The young priestess heard her name being called and turned to see a giant arm coming after her. Her legs couldn't move; she was frozen stiff as she watched the arm race toward her. She knew that it meant to puncture right through her and end her life but she couldn't move. Shippo gave a cry out in her arms and all she could do was close her eyes shut.

But the hit never came.

Instead she felt strong arms wrap around her and she could feel wind in her hair. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was being carried away from where she was standing. Looking around, she looked at the face of her rescuer. "K-Koga!" She gasped as the wolf demon reached the ground, landing on his feet and placing the shocked girl on hers.

"Looks like I came at the right time, huh Kagome?" The young wolf demon smiled down at the priestess. He was about to say something else to the shocked girl but sensed movement behind. Quickly turning his back to Kagome, he kicked away Naraku's arm that had followed after them.

Kagome could feel the familiar twinge in her soul – the power of the sacred jewel. Koga of the wolf demon tribe had two jewel shards in his legs, granting him the ability to run very fast. Kagome watched as Koga jumped around doing flips in the air and using his fast speed to dodge Naraku's arms.

But there was a sudden bright yellow light had flashed before Koga and Kagome's eyes widened when she saw that Koga had a weapon. She wasn't familiar with the wolf demon using any weapon, even the sword that was strapped to his side was never used. The weapon that the wolf demon had were attachments to his right hand, five long silver claws.

"Goraishi!" The wolf demon yelled as he brought his right hand down on Naraku's tentacles. A bright yellow light emitted from the claws and Naraku's tentacles were blown apart.

With Koga keeping Naraku's arms at bay, Miroku and Sango managed to make their way over to Kagome to make sure she and the fox kit were safe. Making sure each other were alright, they all turned to Naraku who still had Inuyasha captive. His tentacles were slowing winding their way around the half demon, holding him immobile and losing strength from Naraku's absorptive powers.

Sango called onto Kilala and the team flew into the air to get a better view of the battle field. When they got high enough, Sango let out a yell as she threw her Hiraikotsu towards the tentacle bundle that was holding Inuyasha. But as her giant weapon flew towards Naraku, the arms that were fighting with Koga suddenly grabbed the wolf demon and threw him towards the boomerang.

Everyone watched in horror as the young wolf demon got struck by Sango's weapon mid air and fell to the ground with a lifeless thud. Kagome tried to rub over to the fallen wolf but just as Koga's body was about to hit the group, Naraku's tentacles wrapped around his body and took him closer to the evil demon.

With Sango's weapon lying at the feet of Naraku, she and Kilala rejoined Miroku and Kagome on the ground to try and figure out a way to get Inuyasha and Koga back. Miroku couldn't use his wind tunnel for fear of sucking up their comrades and Kagome was worried of shooting her arrows and the explosion being too close to the dog and wolf demons.

All they could do was watch helplessly as Naraku's claws dug into Koga's legs. The wolf demon came back from unconsciousness from the pain of his legs being ripped apart and gave out a cry in agony. When Naraku was finished stealing his jewel shards he threw the wolf demon away, not needing him anymore. Koga dropped to the ground with another lifeless thud, a pool of blood forming from the wounds in his legs.

The group couldn't figure out what to do, Kagome ran over to the fallen wolf demon to see what she could do to make the wounds stop bleeding. But when she ran over to him, she could see that Koga was trying to get up. "Koga, you have to stay still," Kagome tried to make the wolf demon stop but then she realized what he was doing – he had landed right beside Sango's Hiraikotsu. With a painful grunt, Koga picked up Sango's weapon and threw it back at the demon slayer.

There was a sudden explosion near the main building of the courtyard. Smoke and dust filled the battlefield as everyone shielded their eyes from the blast. Through the smoke and dust, they heard a cry of pain come from Naraku and bits of his tentacles flew everywhere.

Someone landed near Kagome where she was leaned over Koga. Looking up, she saw white hair blowing in the gust of wind. At first she thought it was Inuyasha but when the dust settled, she gasped when she realized who the white haired figure was.

It was Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's older half brother.

"I've finally found you, Naraku." The Lord of the West said in a monotone voice as he held out his sword, the Bakusaiga, which had delivered the blast to Naraku.

Kagome sat there for a moment, staring up at Sesshomaru in awe but her gaze turned to the left as she heard someone fall to the ground with a grunt. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw it was Inuyasha, free from Naraku's tentacles. She then heard footsteps coming closer to her and saw Miroku and Sango running up to them to make sure she was ok.

Inuyasha got up to his feet, coughing a couple times from being choked by the tentacles. His golden eyes scanned around him; finding Kagome and seeing she was ok. But his eyes widened when he saw his mate hovering over the unconscious wolf demon. Inuyasha was about to say something when his eyes caught the flash of silver hair and turned to see his older brother standing a little ways ahead of him. "What the hell is going on here?" Inuyasha growled.

"Be silent Inuyasha. You should be greatful that the wolf pup was here to save your mate," Sesshomaru turned to glare at his younger brother; golden eyes clashing with golden eyes.

"What did you say?" Inuyasha growled but was silenced when Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder.

Kagome smiled up at her mate. "Inuyasha, Koga and Sesshomaru aren't you enemies right now – Naraku is. Koga saved me from Naraku's attack. And we could really use Sesshomaru's help in this battle."

Inuyasha couldn't help but growl at the thought of fighting alongside his brother. The two dog demon siblings never got along; Sesshomaru always spoke down to Inuyasha for being a half breed and blamed their father's death on his younger brother and his human mother.

"You think you can defeat me – the great Naraku?" The evil demon laughed while standing on top of the roof, looking down at his opponents below. He gave out a laugh as he took out the almost completed Shikon Jewel – he had taken Koga's jewel shards and molded it back together with the jewel. Now the only ones that were missing were the ones that Kagome and Sango had.

An evil smirk appeared on Naraku's face as he pressed the Shikon Jewel into his chest, molding it with his own body. He gave a grunt in pain at first but then when he started to glow, he gave a maniacal evil laugh, feeling the power of the Shikon Jewel course through his body.

The group watched in horror as the evil demon began to glow with the power of the jewel and began to grow. Larger and larger he grew, towering over them like a giant.

"This can't be good," Inuyasha growled, pulling Kagome closer to him to protect her from the danger. "What are we going to do now?"

"We have no choice but to combine attacks!" Miroku called out over the gust of wind that had picked up around the courtyard. "Inuyasha, you must work together with Sesshomaru. Together, your two swords might be able to defeat Naraku."

The half demon huffed, looking away from his friends with a glare. "Why do you make it sound like I'm the one who doesn't get along? Sesshomaru is just as much to blame for all the past fights as I do."

"Inuyasha this isn't the time to fight with Sesshomaru." Kagome whispered, placing a hand back on Inuyasha's shoulder. "We have to work together!" She said, both dog demons silently growling.

The giant evil Naraku laughed again but because of his size, his laugher sounded more like the thunder in the air. His arm suddenly started glowing, transforming into a giant tentacle that he whipped down at the ground in an attack. Inuyasha quickly gather up Kagome in his arms, Sango and Miroku pulling the unconscious Koga onto Kilala's back and jumped away from the attack.

Landing a ways away from where they had jumped from, Inuyasha set Kagome down on her feet and turned to face Naraku with a snarl. The half demon drew out Tetsusaiga in its full fang form while Sesshomaru gripped Bakusaiga's handle tighter, getting ready to again.

The two dog demon brothers jumped into the air, swords in hand and threw their strongest attacks at Naraku. Inuyasha's Backlash Wave and Sesshomaru's attack hit Naraku square in the chest, causing a giant explosion that threw the two brothers back down to the ground while Naraku roared in pain from the hole in his chest.

As the two brothers landed back down on the ground by Kagome, they looked up at Naraku's hole in his chest began to close up from the power of the Shikon Jewel.

"This isn't going to work." Inuyasha snarled, gripping Tetsusaiga's handle harder. The idea came back in his head, the idea he had thought of for the past two days on how to defeat Naraku. He turned to Kagome with a serious look in his eyes. "Kagome, I have a plan."

Meanwhile Naraku was looking around at all the dead demon's body parts lying around the courtyard. Kagura was gone, her body's ashes had been taken away by the wind and all that was left of Kanna was her mirror. A small smirk appeared on his lips as he ran his giant hand over the dead demons, absorbing them into his own body.

Kagome's face was nothing less of shock and horror as she heard Inuyasha's plan. It wouldn't work, the shards were too powerful but she had to agree with the half demon, there wasn't much they could do. With a hesitant sigh, she emptied the little jar into her hand, the jewel shards falling into her palm. Together with the shard Sango had given her from Kohaku's body; they had three shards.

She looked up and locked eyes with Sesshomaru. The regal dog demon stood there looking down at the young priestess and held out his hand, accepting one of the shards. With no words spoken as Kagome gave him one of the shards which he threw against his sword, melding it into the blade.

Kagome then turned to Inuyasha with a worried look on her face but again didn't say anything and gave her mate the second shard. She watched as Inuyasha did the same as his brother and threw the shard into Tetsusaiga's blade.

Sesshomaru's sword started pulsating, emitting a faint glow from the power the shard had given it. The dog demon let out a slight growl, not anticipating the shard's power but he soon regained composure and jumped after Naraku.

Inuyasha's sword started to do the same as Sesshomaru's; pulsating quickly and glowing from the new acquired power. Kagome's heart sped up as she heard Inuyasha struggling growl, his head bowed as he tried to control the new power. Black sparks flew from Tetsusaiga's blade, surrounding Inuyasha as it crackled in the air. The half demon gave another struggling grunt as he continued to pulsate along with his sword.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, reaching a hand out to her mate. She would feel that something was wrong; the shard was turning black and emitting a tainted aura from where it melded with Inuyasha's demon sword.

"Inuyasha, did you really think that with your human blood that you would be able to control a jewel shard?" Naraku's booming voice came from the sky as he watched the half demon struggle.

Kagome turned back to her mate after hearing Naraku's words and gasped in shock when she caught a glimpse of Inuyasha's face. His fangs and claws grew long as he let out another struggling snarl. His eyes turned a deep blood red as purple jagged purple marks appeared on his cheeks.

Inuyasha's demon blood was taking over.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	12. End of Naraku

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 12 – End of Naraku

Sesshomaru jumped into the air towards Naraku in a second attempt at attacking the evil demon. His full demon blood was able to control the power of the jewel shard that Kagome gave him. He glanced back to see that his younger brother was having difficulty wielding the Tetsusaiga after Kagome gave him the second of the jewel shards.

Using the Bakusaiga's attack, Sesshomaru wounded Naraku in the shoulder but the evil demon used the Shikon Jewel to heal the wound instantly. Naraku smirked as he used his tentacle arm to thwart of the dog demon, making Sesshomaru jump away and landing by his younger brother again.

The struggling half demon moved his head so that his bangs were covering his eyes. His blood red eyes glowed beneath his bangs as he fought against the pain in his body. With a struggling growl, he gripped the hilt of Tetsusaiga harder and quickly glanced back at the young girl behind him. "Kagome, we have to hurry." He said; his voice gruffer than usual.

Kagome couldn't help the shiver that crawled up her spine. She had only seen Inuyasha's demonic side a handful of times but each one of those times the half demon had forgotten who she was. It was like he had forgotten all of his friends as the demon blood in his veins took over. But this time was different; his eyes though now blood red, his pupils stayed the golden colour instead of teal-green like the other times he had changed. And he still remembered who she was.

But his growl brought Kagome back from her thoughts and at the battle at hand. She shook her head to clear her thoughts as she stepped forward to stand beside her mate. Taking the last shard in their possession, she wedged it into the arrowhead before stringing it on her bow.

"We only have one shot at this so make it count." Kagome said to the two dog demon brothers. "I only have one shard left to use in my arrow. We have to attack at the same time." Shippo jumped up on the young girl's shoulder, his little body shaking from adrenaline.

Sango, Miroku and Kilala landed behind Kagome, ready to aid in the final strike against Naraku. Sango pulled her boomerang down, allowing Miroku to place his sacred sutras on it. Shippo jumped from Kagome's shoulder onto Sango's and together they flew back into the air with Kilala.

"Ready?" Inuyasha snarled, still fighting his demonic blood. Getting a slight nod from Sesshomaru, they both jumped into the air with their swords ready for attack.

Just before Inuyasha and Sesshomaru raised their sword in attack, Sango threw her Hiraikotsu that was covered in Miroku's sacred sutras. Shippo then threw his fox fire at Sango's weapon, the bluish-green fire mixing with the red flames of the Hiraikotsu's demonic energy. The flaming boomerang flew through the air, catching Naraku in the shoulder. Because of Miroku's sacred sutras, his monk powers burnt his demonic flesh, spreading through his body and Shippo's fox fire following after the sutra powers.

Koga, who up until now had been unconscious on Kilala's back with the others had awoken while the group was gearing up for their attacks. After talking with Sango and Miroku about their plans, the young wolf demon called his weapon claws back onto his hand and with the last bit of his energy, swung his hang down and sent the Goraishi's attach towards Naraku. Using up all of his strength in the last attack, the wolf demon passed out again.

Kilala flew out of the way just in time for Kagome to release her sacred arrow towards Naraku. The arrow emitted a pink aura from Kagome's priestess powers but also had purple streaks through the blast due to the sacred jewel shard. Kagome had grown stronger throughout her travels with Inuyasha and the others; in the beginning of their adventure she couldn't even shoot an arrow and now she was almost a master at archery and ever growing priestess powers. She aimed the sacred arrow right for Naraku's heart.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru watched as Kagome's arrow whizzed by them and readied their swords. Sesshomaru swung his sword, a blast of greenish yellow energy coming from his blade and targeting where Kagome's arrow had hit.

"Backlash Wave!" Inuyasha growled as he brought his sword down, his swords power ensnaring Naraku's demonic aura and throwing it back at him. And with the added sacred jewel shard, the Backlash Wave pulled together all of the demonic auras of Sesshomaru, Koga, Kilala and Shippo and also utilized their powers. A series of demonic tornadoes appeared; each made of another demon's aura and attacked Naraku, ripping apart his flesh.

Naraku roared in pain as the tornadoes continued to rip and tear his body apart but he smirked as he used the Shikon Jewel to heal the wounds. But just as the jewel started to fix his body, Kagome's soaring arrow struck him in the chest, her priestess powers burning away at his flesh.

The shard in Kagome's arrow amplified her priestess powers and rendered the jewel powerless to Naraku. With the power of the jewel useless to Naraku, the Backlash Wave's tornadoes continued to tear apart Naraku's body.

This was it; this last arrow would finish off Naraku for good. Kagome strung her last arrow onto her bow and pulled it back. "Hit the mark." She quietly said to herself as she let the arrow fly. The arrow whizzed through the air, glowing a bright pink. It flew by the dog demon brothers and Kilala in the air and hit Naraku in the chest, causing a bright explosion where it hit his demonic body.

The explosion was so powerful that it rocked Sesshomaru and Inuyasha back in mid-air, making them jump away from the flying debris. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha jumped back to where Kagome was standing, Inuyasha wrapping his arms around his mate to block her from the explosion. Kilala who was carrying Sango, Miroku and the re-awoken Koga flew back to the others as they watched Naraku's body burn from the inside out.

Naraku grasped his chest as the pink fire burned through his flesh. He gave out a cry in pain as the power of the Shikon Jewel left his body; making him shrink back down from his giant form. As he shrank down to his normal size, the pink fire engulfed his entire body and with one last howl of pain, he fell to the ground with a lifeless thud.

Lightning flash in the clouds above as the thunder shook the ground. The group watched as their greatest foe slowly died, burning from the blast of their attacks. Sango and Miroku got off of Kilala's back to stand beside Inuyasha and Kagome, Shippo on Kilala's shoulder to watch over the wounded Koga.

They watched as Naraku was reduced to nothing but a pile of ash and dust. As the evil demon fell to his death, the air was suddenly clarified from the deadly miasma in the atmosphere. The air was instantly easier to breathe as the purple mists of miasma blew away into nothing with the wind.

No one moved for a moment, everyone just stood there breathing hard from the strength they had used in that last attack. Their eyes didn't move from where Naraku fell, it was too surreal to think that it was finally over. Sango fell to her knees, tears breaking out over her cheeks as she thought of her fallen younger brother.

The silence was broken when Inuyasha suddenly sank Tetsusaiga's blade into the ground in front of him. He had been jolted by another powerful shock of the Shikon Jewel shard and his strength had been used up in that last attack that he wouldn't have been able to control his demon blood. As he let go of his sword, his eyes turned back to their normal colour and the purple streaks on his cheeks disappeared.

Without a word Inuyasha's older brother turned to the group, his appearance showing no fatigue. Holding his sword up, he removed the jewel shard and placed it in Kagome's hand. Without saying anything, Sesshomaru turned to make his leave from the battle ground.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru." Kagome said as she watched her new brother-in-law leave them. "We appreciate your help in defeating Naraku."

"I didn't come here to help." The dog demon turned his head to look at the priestess from over his shoulder. "I had my own score to settle with Naraku." And with that, he left the scene.

Kagome didn't call out to the older dog demon but offered a small smile as he left. When Sesshomaru was gone, she turned back to her friends with a tired smile. "It's over." She whispered, her voice almost broke at the end as she felt tears well up at the corners of her eyes.

There was a silence that fell over the group after Kagome's words as everyone just looked at each other. It was over; the land was finally rid of Naraku. But everyone snapped into reality and turned to Miroku as he let out a gasp.

They turned to see that the monk's right hand was glowing a soft purple colour. The light grew in brightness until it was too bright that everyone had to shield their eyes from the brightness. When the light grew dimmer they looked back at Miroku who had removed the cloth from his palm. There was nothing left but a scar where the Wind Tunnel used to be for so many years. The curse that had taken his grandfather and father's lives, the curse that was threatening Miroku's own life was finally gone. Miroku was saved!

Sango kneeled down beside Miroku, placing a soft hand on his shoulder. The monk looked over at the demon slayer and the two shared a small smile. Both turned back to look at Kagome who had walked over to the Tetsusaiga and removed the jewel shard from its blade and then watched as the priestess and the half demon walked over to where Naraku had fallen.

Kagome picked up her broken arrow off the ground and retrieved the jewel shard that she used. Inuyasha looked around the battle area and at the site of ashes and debris, spotted a small spider - the only thing remaining of the foul demon that was once Naraku. Inuyasha let out a snarl, feeling the dark aura around the little spider and unsheathed Tetsusaiga again and plunged the blade into the spider's body.

The spider gave out a shriek as it was impaled by the Tetsusaiga's blade but the half demon didn't stay and watch him die as he turned to his mate and watched her pick up the glowing Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha walked over to Kagome but gasped when she suddenly dropped the jewel back down on the ground.

"The jewel is so tainted." Kagome whispered, looking at her hands where the jewel had burnt her. Trying again, Kagome bent down and picked up the jewel, placing the three remaining shards in her palm. She didn't really know what she was going to do with the shard pieces but she closed her eyes and concentrated on the energy that the shards were giving off.

Everyone watched as Kagome started to glow pink. Suddenly, a white light erupted from her hands and the group shielded their eyes from the blinding light of the Shikon Jewel. But as soon as the light came from her hands, it went away and when the group looked to Kagome, she opened her hands to reveal the all-put-back-together Jewel of the Four Souls. It sparkled with a pink light; Kagome's priestess powers purifying the jewel from Naraku's malevolent power.

"So…" Shippo whispered from Miroku's shoulder as Kagome and Inuyasha walked back to the group. "We won? It's over?" The little kit looked over at the jewel that was in Kagome's hands.

"Yes Shippo." Inuyasha said softly, standing beside Kagome. "We won. Naraku is burning in Hell as we speak." He allowed a small smile as he looked down at his mate, his arm snaking around her waist to pull her closer to him. Kagome looked up at him, her eyebrow raised at his choice of words but he was right nonetheless.

The wounded wolf demon give a small moan in pain from where he was laying on Kilala's back. Lifting his head slightly, he caught the sight of the Inuyasha giving Kagome a quick kiss on the lips. Koga could feel his heart shudder in his chest as he watched Kagome smile up at the dog demon. He had developed feelings for the priestess during his travels to avenge his fallen pack mates that died at Naraku's hands. He had several fights with the dog mutt for the way he treated Kagome but he could clearly see that Kagome was happy with the dog demon. Letting out a sigh which was hitched when he felt the pain in his ribs, he turned away, burying his face in Kilala's fur.

Sango watched from a little ways away as Kagome and Inuyasha shared a kiss. She saw from the corner of her eye as Koga saw the same scene and watched him turn away from the view. Her attention turned back to Miroku as she saw him look down at his hand again. "Your family's curse is finally gone, Miroku." She looked up at the monk with a small smile but suddenly turned away when a tear ran down her cheek.

She still couldn't get a hold of her tears and she didn't know this time if they were tears of joy or sadness – or a mixture of both. She was so happy that Miroku was saved from his curse but she couldn't get the flashbacks out of her mind – flashbacks of years ago when everything was peaceful and she was back with her village; back with her father and brother.

Miroku saw the pain in Sango's eyes and he took his right hand still covered in the purple cloth glove and lifted her chin. "Sango," he started and took a deep breath, locking her eyes with her. "I have something important to say to you." He took a deep breath again, searching her tear-filled eyes. "I love you."

The flashbacks in her mind's eye stopped and she let out a small gasp. She could have sworn that her heart stopped beating for a moment as her mind stopped dead in its tracks, her eyes widening as she looked up at the monk. She couldn't move, her body frozen for those words she had dreamed to hear for so long.

But Miroku took her silence as rejection and pulled his hands away, trying to backtrack his words. "I'm sorry Sango, I shouldn't have said that especially since you're still upset about losing your brother. "Forgive m-" His words were cut short when Sango's body crashed into his, capturing his lips in a kiss.

The demon exterminator wrapped her arms around Miroku's neck, pulling his lips closer to her. The pain from her wounds faded into the background of her mind as her lips moved with his as he kissed her back. Kohaku's image still burned in her min but she couldn't help but feel like she was floating on clouds. Miroku loved the taste of her kiss and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and for once his hands behaved and stayed around her waist.

Sango didn't want to pull away, she wanted to keep their lips locked together forever – but her lungs needed air and she pulled away from his lips but kept hers close to his as she caught her breath. "I love you too Miroku." She mumbled into his chest.

Miroku's heart was thundering in his chest as he held her tight to him. He cleared his throat, gaining the demon slayer's attention as she looked back up at him. "Sango," He watched as she lifted her eyes to look up at him, he could see tears threatening to fall down her cheeks again. "I know this is kind of sudden but..." He took another deep breath. "Will you marry me?"

Sango's tears won and they streamed down her pink cheeks that were already tear stained. Her heart swelled as she heard the words echo in her ears. "Yes, yes Miroku I will." She said, hiccupping because she was holding back a sob that was stuck in her throat. She smiled up at him and he brought his lips down and caught hers again in another passionate kiss.

Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo stood a little further away from the new couple. Shippo was perched on Inuyasha's shoulder as the dog demon has his arms wrapped around Kagome, hugging her from behind. "Kind of like us huh?" Kagome smiled, leaning her head back on Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Yeah." Inuyasha said as he stood there with his mate. His wounds stung, the bleeding stopped long ago and his golden eyes continued to look around the battleground. He knew it was over, but part of him felt like it wasn't over, the adrenaline from the battle still coursing through his veins. His eyes turned to Kilala where she stood with Koga still on her back. He knew the wolf demon was awake but his head was turned away from them, perhaps resting from his wounds.

There was a soft silence in the area as everyone caught their breath from the battle but the silence was suddenly broken when the earth started to shake violently. Everyone braced themselves and saw that the castle started to fall apart, the wood panels and roof shingles breaking into dust and blowing away into the suddenly strong wind. When the earth finally stopped shaking, there was nothing left; the castle had completely disintegrated along with Naraku's powers.

"We should head back to my village and take care of everyone's wounds." Sango spoke up from Miroku's arms as he had protected her from the earthquake.

The rest of the group agreed and helped Sango onto Kilala's back with Koga as she was still weak from Kanna's attack and wouldn't be able to walk far. The wolf demon didn't object to following the group to the demon slayer village as he wouldn't have been able to make it very far with his wounds. When asked where his wolf pack was, he said he had left them behind to come fight and told the group that his pack would be able to follow his scent to catch up with him later on.

As they left the area where Naraku's castle once stood, Inuyasha caught the sight of white in the corner of his vision. Turning to see what it was, he felt his heart ache as he thought to himself. _'I have to find her.'_

But his thoughts were broken when he heard Kagome call to him, the group already several paces ahead of the dog demon. Without saying anything, Inuyasha buried his thoughts to the back of his mind and went to catch up with his mate and friends. No one else had noticed the soul collector watching them.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	13. Goodbye

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 13 - Goodbye

By the time they arrived to the silent demon slayer's village, it was well after dark. When they got back to Sango's old house, they built up a fire and made supper. With the fire quietly flickering in the middle of the room to keep everyone warm and to light the darkness, the group got to dressing each other's battle wounds.

Sango's battle with her younger brother had left her with a deep gash in her shoulder blade which forced her arm into a sling for the night to keep it immobile while it healed. Miroku had small cuts and gashes from the demon minions but was otherwise fine and while Kilala had the injury on her back from where the demon had bitten her. Inuyasha's body was covered in gashes and abrasions from the countless demons he fought during the battle. The worst was a series of slashes down the front of his chest from where one of the demons had swung its claws and caught his flesh.

Koga was in the worse shape out of everyone. His legs were torn up from when Naraku's tentacles had taken his Shikon Jewel shards and judging from the bruising on his abdomen, Kagome guessed he had several broken ribs from being hit by Sango's weapon.

After their wounds were dressed, Sango and Miroku left to pay their respects to Sango's fallen village in the cemetery at the edge of the village. Inuyasha was about to go out to get more firewood when he turned to Kagome who was placing a cool cloth on Koga's forehead. The wolf demon was in and out of consciousness and lying on Kagome's sleeping bag.

"Are you going to be ok with him for a while?" Inuyasha asked, eyeing the wolf demon.

"Don't worry. I don't think he'll be trying anything with the way he's feeling." Kagome smiled up at her dog demon and watched him leave the house through the open shoji doors.

It was quiet when Inuyasha left; Shippo and Kilala had fallen asleep from exhaustion of the battle which left Kagome to sit by Koga, waiting for him to wake up and waiting for her friends to come back.

"You love him, don't you?" A raspy voice said quietly beside her.

Kagome's eyes widened and turned to see that Koga had woken up. "Koga," She whispered as she looked down at the wolf demon. "How are you feeling?"

The wolf demon didn't try to move; his body was in too much pain to even think about moving so he stayed lying down on Kagome's sleeping bag. "You didn't answer my question." He said, his teal green eyes looking up at Kagome's eyes. "You love him, don't you." This time it wasn't a question, it was more of a realization.

Kagome looked down at her lap. She knew this was going to happen; Koga had to find out sooner or later that she and Inuyasha were mates. "Yes Koga, I love Inuyasha." She whispered, placing a hand on her neck where Inuyasha had given her the Mate's Mark. "He and I are mates now."

"So…" Koga's voice faded into silence for a moment as he tried to find the words to say. "So that mutt finally did something right for a change?"

Kagome couldn't help but let a small laugh escape her lips as she remembered what Shippo said when he found out. "Yes I guess he did."

Another silence fell over the two as Kagome continued to look down at her lap and Koga struggled with his words again.

"I hope he makes you happy Kagome." The wolf demon whispered, making the priestess turn to look at him again. "I hope he has learned that what he was doing before was making you upset." The wolf demon turned to look at the girl beside him, placing a hand on the hand that she had in her lap. "I wish you happiness, Kagome."

"Thank you Koga." Kagome whispered back, smiling warmly down at the wolf demon. "So now that Naraku is defeated and you avenged the fallen members of your fallen pack, what are you going to do?" She questioned.

"I'll go back to the mountains and join the council to become chief." Koga answered. "I have a promise to keep after all."

"Promise?"

"To Ayame." Koga said, thinking about the female wolf demon who he promised to marry when they were younger. She was the granddaughter of the chief wolf of the mountains.

"You remembered your promise?" Kagome asked, thinking back on how Ayame appeared during their travels to hold Koga true to his promise. When Ayame told them about the promise, Koga stated that he had no recollection of ever making such a promise to her.

"I didn't remember it at first but I remember it now." The wolf demon said, trying to move his body into a sitting position but his ribs screamed out in pain. "I remembered it shortly after she had left to return to the mountains but I didn't know if I was going to survive the final battle with Naraku. I didn't want her to get involved with Naraku's evil." Koga stopped for a moment to wince in pain as he had tried to move. "Now that I seem to have survived the final attack, I will go back to Ayame in the mountains."

Kagome saw that he wanted to sit up and helped him move so he was leaning against the wall. After Koga adjusted his sitting position against the wall, Kagome passed him a bowl of soup that the group had for supper. "I'm happy you remembered your promise to Ayame. I hope the two of you will be happy."

After they exchanged smiles to one another, Kagome went to bandaging Koga's legs and applied an herbal ointment on his ribs to take away as much pain as it was able. After Koga was finished his supper, Kagome helped him lay back down and soon the wolf demon was sound asleep.

Shortly after Koga had fallen asleep Sango and Miroku had come back to the house to get ready for bed. When Kagome asked if they had seen Inuyasha, both the monk and slayer shook their heads saying they hadn't seen the half demon.

o-o-o-o

He had told Kagome he was going out for firewood but he wasn't. He couldn't let the feeling go away as they had supper earlier and now he had to settle things for good. When he told Kagome he would be right back, he had stepped out onto the porch of the old house and instantly caught the sight of the white creature.

It was a soul collector. One of Kikyo's white creatures that brought her the souls of the dead so that she, one of the dead herself, could walk amongst the living.

Inuyasha walked over to where the soul collector was floating, near the back of the village were a small forest of trees were growing. The soul collector gave a soft unnatural whine as if to acknowledge the half demon and then it turned towards the forest, floating slow enough for Inuyasha to follow.

The creature led him through the forest and soon he saw the soft glow of other soul collectors floating around the trees. The creatures led him to a small clearing in the woods where there was a little pond. There, sitting by the pond was the one person Inuyasha had expected to see.

The half demon stopped a little ways away from her and watched as her soul collectors floated around their master as if telling her that she had a visitor.

"Hello Inuyasha." The raven haired woman said as she turned her brown eyes to look at the half demon.

o-o-o-o

After saying goodnight to Sango and Miroku, Kagome went out to sit on the porch to wait for Inuyasha's return. While sitting on the porch, Kagome looked up at the thin crescent that was the moon at the beginning of its new phase.

The wind picked up, blowing her long black hair into her face. Lifting her hand up to brush the stray hair away, at the corner of her eye she saw something glowing. Turning to get a better look, she let a small gasp out when she saw what it was.

Disconnected souls.

Her heart tightened in her chest as her feet suddenly started moving her towards the floating white lights. "Inuyasha." Kagome whispered to herself as she walked into the forest where some of the soul catchers met up with her to guide her to where she was sure she would find Inuyasha – and someone else.

The soul collectors led Kagome into the forest at the corner of the village. As they got closer to the pond, Kagome saw that there were more of the white creatures floating around the water with white orbs of disconnected souls. Kagome figured that this was where the collectors were taking her and she decided that she would hide behind a nearby tree.

She looked around the forest and instantly found where Inuyasha. He was facing away from her, she couldn't see the expression on his face but as soon as she saw him, she saw her – Kikyo.

Seeing the dead priestess standing in front of Inuyasha brought an ache to her heart. She was reminded of all the previous times she had spied on Inuyasha and Kikyo. She had watched several times as Kikyo tried to drag Inuyasha to Hell with her and on more than one occasion she had almost taken him.

Kagome's heart was hammering in her chest as she watched Inuyasha and Kikyo face each other from where she stood behind the tree.

o-o-o-o

Inuyasha took a moment as he took in the image of Kikyo. This was the first time that he was seeing Kikyo after his realization of how he felt for her. He realized now that the relationship he had with Kikyo wasn't love; it was a cry for help because they thought they could help each other achieve what they really wanted.

He was suddenly reminded of all those times he had ran away from Kagome to chase after Kikyo, allowing the dead priestess to pull him away from Kagome. He was so blind and thought what he had with Kikyo was real. "Kikyo." Inuyasha addressed the priestess in front of him.

"My friend here tells me that you defeated Naraku." Kikyo said, petting the soul collector on the head from where she sat by the pond. The white creature made an otherworldly purr as she ran her fingers down its forehead. She then turned back to look at the dog demon in front of her. "Is that true?" She asked in a calm voice.

"Yes." He nodded, unable to come up with anything else to say.

At his answer, the priestess stood up from her seat on the rock by the pond. Getting to her feet, she faced the dog demon and when she moved, the soul catchers made their purring noise and swirled around her a couple times before calming back down; their every move tied to Kikyo's motions.

Kikyo took a step closer to her ex-love, her hand reaching out to him. "We are finally free from Naraku's grasp. We can finally be together like we had talked about so many times before." She took another step towards Inuyasha. "This means you can come to the afterworld with me now."

"No." He answered sternly, taking a step backwards.

Kikyo stopped in her walk towards the half demon when she saw him step away from her. She was slightly taken aback by what he had just answered her. "What?" She questioned in her soft voice. "What did you say? I thought you loved me, Inuyasha. I remember clearly you promising to come to with me when Naraku was finally dead."

Inuyasha let out a sigh for a moment, not liking what the tone in her voice was telling him. He wanted to do this without an argument but of course, he was a fool for wishing something like that when it came to telling Kikyo goodbye. "I can't." He answered, placing a hand over his heart. "My heart belongs to someone else."

Kikyo was quiet for a moment as she heard his words. Inuyasha took a moment to study her face and saw a smirk appear on her lips. "It's that reincarnation of mine isn't it." She stated, gaining Inuyasha's attention again. "That wench." She whispered lowly to herself and she heard Inuyasha's growl from across the clearing; his keen ears had heard her curse. She looked up at the half demon, her expression this time showing anger and jealousy on her porcelain face. "But you promised that you would come with me." Her voice was increasing in volume, her anger clearly showing.

Inuyasha's growl grew louder as his face turned into a glare at the word Kikyo used to talk about Kagome. "I made no such promise Kikyo." The dog demon snarled, shaking his head. "I promised you that I would avenge your death and that bastard is dead now." He answered with a wave of his arm.

o-o-o-o

Kagome watched from behind the tree as Inuyasha and Kikyo's conversation escalated. Her mind continued to show her the flashbacks of when Inuyasha used to run after Kikyo the first chance he got and her mind remembered how it broke her heart in half to see him run after her.

She remembered being tied to a tree by Kikyo's soul collectors, the priestess placing a spell on her so Inuyasha couldn't see her. She watched as Inuyasha professed his love for the priestess again and again, begging her not to leave him again. She watched as Kikyo pulled Inuyasha into her arms, capturing his lips into a kiss as she tried to pull him down into Hell. Kagome knew from that day that there would be no way that she would ever be able to fill that gap in Inuyasha's heart that Kikyo held.

But now everything was different. Now she was watching Inuyasha tell the same priestess that he didn't actually love her and that he was in love with Kagome. Kagome was the one that held his heart and the girl couldn't help but place her hand over her collar bone again to feel for the Mate's Mark.

The girl from the future was both thrilled beyond belief to hear Inuyasha say that she was the one who held his heart but at the same time she was worried about what Kikyo was going to do.

o-o-o-o

"So, my reincarnation has stolen you away from me has she?" Kikyo said, almost nonchalantly. But the look in her eyes told Inuyasha that she was furious behind her calm mask.

The half demon could think of nothing else to do but look straight into Kikyo's eyes and no his head. He wasn't afraid to admit he loved Kagome. He had to tell Kikyo goodbye.

Kikyo's face didn't change, but neither did her smoldering eyes. "And there is no way to change your mind?" She asked, taking two steps closer towards the dog demon.

Inuyasha growled again, this time a louder warning. "No Kikyo."

Kikyo looked down at the ground for a moment and Inuyasha didn't know what to expect but she suddenly looked back up at him and her eyes were glowing in anger. Not like before with the hidden fire of anger behind them; this time they were actually glowing – her whole body started glowing a deep purple. "That just won't do, Inuyasha." She said in her monotone voice as she took another step towards him, her soul catchers swirling around in the air. "I guess I'll have to kill that bitch so you can finally be with me and not make this horrible mistake."

Inuyasha let out a fearful snarl at her threat. He could feel his demon blood rise up inside of him, purple streaks appearing on his cheeks. He crackled his knuckles ad he glared at Kikyo who was still advancing to him. "You will do no such thing Kikyo!" He growled.

The dead priestess smiled coldly as she stopped walking and tilted her head to one side, try to act innocent. "What's wrong Inuyasha, did I strike a nerve?" She did hesitate in one step as she looked at Inuyasha's face. She had never seen Inuyasha's demon blood take over.

"Kikyo I'm warning you, if you move to harm Kagome I will tear you apart with my own claws." He growled louder, meaning every work that left his mouth.

Kikyo suddenly shook her head violently and let out an angry shriek. Inuyasha took another step back, concerned about what Kikyo was going to do; Kikyo was one of the strongest priestesses he had ever met and now she was growing more and more out of control as her anger grew.

"NO!" She yelled, placing a hand on her chest. "I died because of you and I will not rest until you are in _Hell with me_!"

Inuyasha kept his ground but stopped growling for a moment to shake his head at her outrage. "You've changed Kikyo, and I've changed too. You're not the woman that was Kikyo 50 years ago and I now realized that I don't think I ever really loved you. It was a cry for help since we were both trapped for what we were – me a half demon and you a priestess. We wanted to use the jewel for our own gain and because of that, Naraku was able to use us in his plan."

Kikyo's face suddenly turned into that of pure anger. "NO! You will die with me this time Inuyasha!" She yelled and her glowing purple changed into a deep red colour.

His thoughts took him back to the day when Kikyo was revived by the witch Urasue who stole Kikyo's ashes at her grave site. Urasue kidnapped Kagome who was the reincarnation of Kikyo, housing part of the priestess' soul within her own body and used the girl from the future to revive the dead priestess.

When Inuyasha and Keade had arrived to safe Kagome, they were faced with the reborn Kikyo. That was when Inuyasha learned that someone had turned himself and Kikyo against each other. But just as Kikyo shot her sacred arrow at Inuyasha, Kagome tried to recall Kikyo's soul within her body, forcing Kikyo to leave the scene or lose her soul completely.

:.: Flashback :.:

The lights of the soul returned to Kagome, lowering her down to the ground as the light of the sacred arrow that attacked Inuyasha grew dimmer with Kikyo's weakened powers. Inuyasha regained his footing from the attack and looked around, trying to find the reborn priestess.

"Wh—Where is she?" Inuyasha asked himself as he looked around the scene and then gasped when he saw the priestess stumbling away. "Kikyo! Some part of her soul must remain inside." He stated as he watched the porcelain recreation of Kikyo walk away.

"That which keeps Kikyo moving is nothing more than her deep hatred." The witch Urasue spoke as she laid on the ground, burnt from Kikyo's attack. "It seems that most of the soul has returned to the young girl from whence it came. Kikyo's hatred for you and her need for revenge must have absorbed into the bones and grave-side soul itself." The wind picked up, beginning to take away the burnt ashes that were once the demon witch. "The once pure maiden is now a monster – a monster feeding on its hatred of you. Lovely image, is it not?" She laughed as her burnt remains blew away in the breeze.

:.: End Flashback :.:

Inuyasha bowed his head as Kikyo continued to fume. His thoughts were right and his choice was clear in his mind. He was a complete fool for thinking this would be solved without a conflict. The half demon bowed his head as Kikyo continued to fume in front of him. "I have no choice Kikyo," He said as he looked up at the priestess from behind his bangs. "You will die by my claws this time if you take a step closer."

But just as he was finishing his threat, he looked up and saw Kikyo charging at him. He didn't move his feet; just closed his eyes and raised his hand over his head. His bangs covered his eyes as he waiting for Kikyo to get closer. "I'm sorry you couldn't rest in peace, Kikyo." He said quietly as he swung his hand down.

o-o-o-o

Still in her hiding place behind the tree, Kagome saw everything that happened between the half demon and the priestess. She watched as Kikyo grew out of control with anger and how she charged at Inuyasha. Kagome knew from her own powers that just a touch from Kikyo's priestess powers would have been enough to burn his demon skin.

But she watched Inuyasha bow his head and she knew that he knew there was no other choice. But she couldn't help but gasp when he swung his arm down. Even though she had it coming, she couldn't help but feel sorry as she watched Kikyo fall.

Kagome's heart ached as she turned her eyes away, sad to see the priestess' life end this way.

o-o-o-o

The soul collector's purring had climbed in volume as each one floated down to where their master's body lay on the ground. They each swiveled around her remains for a moment and then took off into the night sky.

Inuyasha looked down at his hand which was covered in mud. It felt strange, but he had to remind himself that Kikyo's body was made out of nothing but soil from the earth and her ashes. The half demon looked down at the ground and glanced over the pile of mud and dust and the clothing that once was Kikyo.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, taking a deep breath. But as he took in the breath, he caught Kagome's scent and looked over in the direction where her hiding place was. "Kagome you can come out, I know you're there."

The girl from the future stepped out from behind her tree and walked over to Inuyasha quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why," she whispered, wiping away her tears. "Why did she have to die with such hatred towards both of us?"

Inuyasha let his breath out in a long sigh and wrapped his arms around Kagome. "I don't know." He said truthfully, looking down at Kikyo's remains over Kagome's shoulder. "Come on, we should get back." He said, letting go of Kagome and kneeled down before Kikyo's remains.

It was a quiet few minutes as Kagome watched Inuyasha collect Kikyos' remains and wrap them in her priestess clothes. She knew that the half demon would want her to have some peace in her passing and it would bring peace to Keade to have her sister's remains back in the village.

When the half demon was done, he stood back up quietly and Kagome took his hand in hers to tell him that she was there for him. Inuyasha held onto Kikyo's remains in one hand as he wrapped his arm around Kagome's waist as they quietly made their way back to the house.

_"Good bye Kikyo."_

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	14. To the Future

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 14 - To the Future

Kagome was the first to wake up the next morning. As she stretched her arms over her head, she realized that she wasn't lying in her sleeping bag. Moving around slightly, she realized that she was lying against something warm and soft. When she had moved, arms came around and wrapped around her waist.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that she had been sleeping in Inuyasha's lap. _'That's right; I gave my sleeping bag to Koga.'_ She recalled as she looked back up at the sleeping half demon. A smile appeared on her lips as she leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. He hardly ever got a night's sleep so she didn't want to wake him up.

But when she turned around and leaned against Inuyasha's chest again, she saw that the fox demon Shippo was starting to wake up.

"Good morning Shippo." The raven haired girl whispered down to the kitsune but she looked back at Inuyasha, hoping her voice wouldn't wake him up. But all she saw was his ear flick once and that was it so she figured he was still sound asleep.

The little fox demon was in the middle of a yawn when Kagome greeted him and when he looked over his shoulder, his mouth was still wide open but when he was done yawning he smiled brightly at her. "Good morning Kagome." He whispered.

But when the fox demon spoke Inuyasha suddenly started making noise. Kagome, who was still leaning against his chest was suddenly trapped when the sleeping half demon wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close and enabling her from moving.

"Shippo can you do me a favour." Kagome whispered, trying to get out of Inuyasha's arms without waking him. It didn't work out very well because when she moved, Inuyasha just pulled her closer. "Could you go into my bag and start breakfast for me? Just get out the noodle cups."

The little fox demon nodded and jumped up from his spot and walked over to Kagome's giant yellow bag which was in the corner of the room. He dug through all the boxes of bandages and finally was able to pull out six cups of instant noodles. With Kagome's whispering instructions, Shippo was able to turn on Kagome's portable fire and he started cooking the ramen.

After just a couple of minutes the smell of the noodles got to Inuyasha's noise. _Sniff Sniff_. "Mmmm..." He groaned and opened his eyes. He pulled his arms away from Kagome to rub his eyes and began looking around to try and find where the smell was coming from.

The smell of the ramen noodles didn't only bring Inuyasha out of his slumber; shortly after the half demon woke up, Sango and Miroku and kitty Kilala woke up too and came over to where breakfast was being served. Koga was the last to wake up and to everyone's surprise, the wolf demon got up from the sleeping back and joined the group for breakfast. His wounds had healed over night thanks to his demon blood.

When breakfast was served and eaten quietly, everyone took turns redressing each other wounds from the day before. Thanks to his demon blood, the gashes in Koga's legs had healed quickly overnight and they were in the beginning stages of closing up while the bruising on his ribs were already starting to fade. According to the wolf demon, his body still ached, the faint echoes of the broken bones he probably sustained from the giant boomerang but he was sure the soreness would go away within the next couple of days.

After wounds were taken care of, everyone went outside and headed towards the village's cemetery. They held a funeral for Kohaku where they buried him next to Sango's father and the rest of the villagers. After Kohaku's body was laid to rest in the ground next to the rest of the villagers, Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo and Koga left to pack everything up back at the house; leaving Sango and Kilala alone to say their final goodbyes to the fallen. Miroku stayed by Sango's side for support and comfort.

There were no words that were said when Kagome and the others left. Miroku didn't question the silence; he just stayed beside Sango and waited for her to be ready. She was sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest as Kilala sat beside her quietly.

He watched her say her final goodbyes to her little brother and watched as she got up from the ground and dusted her skirt off. When she turned to look at him, he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks and as he whispered her name, he wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug.

They held each other for a moment but Sango soon pulled away to look up at him. He saw the tears in her eyes and lifted his hand to wipe them away with his thumb.

"I'll always be here for you, Sango." Miroku whispered quietly as he held the weeping girl in his arms. His heart went out for the demon slayer, remembering how she had lost her entire village and her family in one night of horrible bloodshed. And to make things even more of a nightmare, Naraku and used her little brother as a slave for the past three years. "Your brother's soul is free now from Naraku's evil."

At his words, Sango was overcome by sadness and fresh tears spilled over her cheeks. "I… I'm all alone." She sobbed uncontrollably, burying her face in Miroku's chest.

Miroku hugged Sango closer to him as he felt her body rock with sobs. "No Sango..." He whispered down to the demon slayer. "I'm here with you. You'll never have to be alone again."

Sango looked back up at Miroku, her eyes red from her crying. She was about to say something when Miroku leaned down and captured her lips in a soft kiss. Her eyes widened for a moment, not used to the feel of Miroku's lips but soon closed her eyes and relaxed, kissing him back. She couldn't stop the pain of her heartbreaking for the loss of her brother but Miroku's words of not being alone rang through her head.

Miroku ended the soft kiss, not wanting to push Sango in her heartbroken state and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her again. "I'll be here for you Sango. And you know Kagome and the others are there for you too. We can be your family now." He whispered.

o-o-o-o

After returning to the main house where the others were waiting, the group packed up their travel gear and they started on their way back to the village. Koga joined along their journey back saying that his pack would catch up with them on the trail.

The journey home was uneventful; no demons getting in their way along their travels for they were all still in hiding from Naraku. Along the walk, the group discussed what they were going to do with the jewel now what it was complete. They knew that once the demons of the land found out about Naraku's death and the completion of the jewel, they would soon seek it out for themselves for power.

They were about half way back to the village when Koga stopped in his tracks from where he was walking beside Kagome and turned to look behind them. His nose twitched and a smile graced his lips. "They finally caught up to me." He said and as he finished what he was saying, the rest of the group heard the faint howls from wolves.

The group stopped and watched as Koga's travelling pack caught up with them at the top of the hill. Ginta and Hakkaku approached the group, their chests heaving and mouths open as they tried to catch their breath from running. Behind the two wolf demons were the rest of Koga's pack which were the wolves that the wolf demons commanded.

"Koga we found you!" Ginta exclaimed as he bent over on his knees to catch his breath.

"We thought we were never going to catch up with you!" Hakkaku gasped, leaning on a nearby tree for support.

"Don't have to worry about not having to catch up to him anymore." Inuyasha smirked from beside Kagome. "Without those jewel shards in your legs, you're just a normal wolf demon like the rest of them."

"Inuyasha, that wasn't very nice." Kagome scolded and turned to smile at the wolf demon. "I guess you're going to head back to the mountains now?"

"Yup." The wolf demon smiled back at the girl in front of him, ignoring the dog demon's remark. "I'll come visit from time to time, to make sure this runt is taking care of you."

Kagome smiled and stepped closer to Koga to give him a goodbye hug. "I look forward to your visit. Tell Ayame I say hi and I hope the two of you will be very happy."

Ginta and Hakkaku stood there staring at the young girl and their pack leader, whispering to each other and questioning if they missed something.

"You better treat Kagome well mutt face." Koga lightly snarled over at Inuyasha as he gave Kagome another short hug. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways for now. See you later everyone."

And with goodbyes done, Koga joined his wolf pack and together they ran off into the forest heading back to the mountains where they called home.

o-o-o-o

After saying their goodbyes to Koga and his pack, the group made their way through the land and just as the sun started to touch the land in the west at sunset they reached the top of a small hill and saw their village at the bottom. They had made it back.

As the sun set in the sky, the villagers were finishing up their chores for the day and settling their children in bed so no one noticed the tired group's arrival.

As they made their way through the village, they found Keade in her herb garden collecting the last of her plants for the day. The old priestess was getting up to her feet with her basket when she spotted the group coming into the village. The shock of seeing the group's return made her gasp out loud and drop her basket of herbs. She greeted them at the entrance of her hut. "Ah ye have returned in one piece! Bless the gods!" Keade smiled as he hugged both Sango and Kagome. "Did ye win?"

Kagome's tired face broke out in a smile as she walked up to the old priestess with the sleeping Shippo in her arms. "Yes, we won." She whispered. "Naraku is gone forever and we have the Shikon Jewel."

"Wonderful. Come inside and tell me all about it." Keade said, inviting everyone into the hut. The group sat around the fire in Keade's hut as they had supper and retold the final battle with Naraku to the old priestess.

o-o-o-o

The next day everyone slept in to regain their strength from the battle. By the time everyone woke up it was around lunch time and after eating, they took a walk out into Inuyasha's Forest to where the Bone Eater's Well was.

The well that rested in the forest was the connection between Kagome's time and Inuyasha's time. When the group got to the clearing, Kagome pulled out the chain around her neck. The slim silver chain had the Shikon Jewel attached to it and when it was pulled out it started to sparkle a soft pink in the sun.

They had talked about the issue of the jewel during the travel back to the village and they agreed that Kagome who was the rightful protector of the jewel should be the one who should make the wish. The young girl had spent the majority of the night tossing and turning about the issue of the right wish and she had finally come up with a perfect wish.

She took a moment and looked around as each member of the group and looked down at the jewel in her hands. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and made her wish. _'Please Shikon Jewel. Please let the well stay open and let my friends pass back and forth through our worlds.' _She wished.

There was a sudden flash of pink that erupted from between Kagome's hands as the jewel granted her wish. Everyone turned away from the bright light and when the light went away, Kagome opened her hands and saw that the jewel was gone.

Their eyes turned to the well and saw it was glowing a soft pink. Kagome turned from looking at the well and back to the others with a smile on her face. "Well, I guess it's time to try and see if it worked."

Sango, Miroku and Shippo nodded nervously. They all held hands with Shippo on Miroku's shoulder and Kilala on Sango's. They looked down at the well and its sparking pink mist as the bottom.

"Ready? On the count of three; 1… 2… 3… GO!"

The group closed their eyes and jumped into the well. Blue and pinkish light surrounded them as they went 500 years into the future to Kagome's time.

Inuyasha and Kagome landed on the hard group in Kagome's era on their feet, used to the time travel after four years. When they landed on the ground, Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and smiled but turned around when they heard a series of groans and saw Miroku, Shippo and Sango on their butts, Kilala clinging onto Sango's shoulder with her fur bristled.

Kagome helped Sango up to her feet as Inuyasha helped Miroku. "It worked!" The raven haired girl smiled brightly.

As Kagome helped Sango up to her feet, the demon slayer laughed as she dusted off her bottom. "Yes but I guess we'll have to work on the landing."

Kagome laughed and turned to show everyone the rope ladder that was hanging on the side of the well. Inuyasha took Kagome's giant yellow bag and jumped out of the well with Shippo and Kilala on his shoulders while the humans climbed up the ladder to get out of the well.

When they climbed out of the well, Kagome walked up the stairs and opened the door of the well house. "Guys, welcome to my time!" She said, showing everyone the courtyard of her family's shrine.

Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kilala stepped out of the well house and into the courtyard and looked around in awe at Kagome's era. Since there were no visitors at the shrine at the moment, Kagome and Inuyasha showed them around the Higurashi Shrine; the gift shop, the prayer shrine and the God Tree.

"See. This is the very same tree that is in your time." Kagome said as her friends looked up at the tree. She took a moment to smile at the tree that held so many memories for her and then turned to lead them to her house.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Kagome yelled out as she took off her shoes and walked into the hallway. No one answered – no one was home. She shrugged to herself and led everyone into the kitchen where she found a note on the microwave.

_Dear Kagome, _

_If you're reading this, that means your home but we're not. I hope you and your friends are all ok. Sorry we're not home to greet you but we had to go to the vet because Buyo ate a whole fish again. While we were out, we figured it would be a good time to go shopping to restock the fridge on ramen just in case you came back. There is some ramen left for Inuyasha in the pantry. Say hi to him for Sota. If you're staying home, see you at six._

_Love Mom_

"Well it looks like it's just us for a while." She said out loud as she reread the note and then looked at the clock on the microwave. It was 2:46pm. She sweatdropped – hopefully Buyo was ok. "So what do you guys what to-" She paused what she was saying as she only saw Inuyasha leaning against the wall when she turned around. "Where did they go?"

"All over." Inuyasha said simply as he looked at the ceiling when he heard a thud upstairs.

"They didn't go outside did they?" She panicked. She could only imagine the nightly news that night; 'Crazed and strangely dressed hooliguns causing problems downtown.'

Inuyasha looked down at Kagome from where he was leaning against the wall and saw Kagome's panicked look. "You worry too much. They're still in the house. You'd think I'd let them outside when they don't know a thing about this time?"

"Hey Kagome what are these?" Miroku came into the room holding a pair of scissors and a pair of sunglasses.

"They're called scissors and we use them to cut paper and other materials." Kagome explained, taking them from the monk. "And these are sunglasses; we wear them to protect our eyes from the sun." She showed Miroku how to put them on and the monk became excited by the new view he had on the world and walked out of the room exclaiming something about fascinating inventions in Kagome's era.

"Kagome what is this?" Sango asked holding up a blowdryer.

"It's called a hairdryer. You plug it into the wall and it blows warm air to make your hair dry faster." Kagome explained and watched the demon slayer leave to go find something new to ask about.

"Kagome? What's this thing?" Shippo bounced into the room holding something.

"That's a phone. People in my time use it to call other people who live somewhere else. You push certain buttons in the right order and you can talk to that person." Kagome explained.

"Oh…." Shippo said in amazement as he looked down at the phone. "Like this?" He asked and the little kitsune started to push buttons in a random order.

"Oh don't do that!" Kagome exclaimed and grabbed the phone from the little kit but just as she grabbed it, she heard someone on the other end and stopped to listen and try and make up an excuse for why they accidentally called.

"Mushi mushi! You're the ninth caller!" The person on the other end said happily. "Congratulations! You just won a trip for four to the United States!"

"I'm really sorry! My little cousin grabbed the phone and -" Kagome paused for a moment. "Wait, what did I win?"

"You won a trip to Florida for a three night stay." The radio host repeated on the other line.

"Really?" Kagome screeched, making Inuyasha and Shippo look in her direction with question.

"Yeah, what's your name?" The radio host asked in his cheerful voice.

"Kagome Higurashi."

"Ok Kagome, stay on the line for a moment and we'll get you those plane tickets." The host explained and then went on to saying which song he was going to play next.

Five minutes later and Kagome hung up the phone and squealed loudly.

"What's got you so bubbly?" Inuyasha asked as he continued to try and keep Shippo away from the blender.

"I just won a trip to Florida!" Kagome giggled and grabbed the little fox child in her arms and hugged him tightly. "And it's all because of you Shippo!"

"Um, you're welcome?" Shippo said, not really understanding what just happened.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	15. Kagome's Era

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 15 – Kagome's Era

After answering several more questions about common household items from the curious group, Kagome came up with the idea to show the group around the city where she lived. Her family wasn't going to be back home until later in the evening and Kagome couldn't think of anything else to do to pass the time.

With the plan decided, she took her friends upstairs to find normal clothes for them to wear. After hiding everyone's weapons away in a safe place, Kagome went to digging through her drawers to find something for Sango to wear.

While Kagome was rooting through her clothes, Sango busied herself with looking around Kagome's room at all the different present day items. She had a mirror in her room where there were several pictures of other people and they were all wearing the same green and white outfit that Kagome always wore. They were friends from Kagome's school.

"Ah ha! I found it!" Kagome exclaimed as she pulled out the certain combination of clothes that she thought would look nice on the demon slayer. It was a pair of dark blue fitted jeans with a button down pink blouse t-shirt. Kagome quickly explained how to put on the clothes and then found her own outfit of jeans and a soft blue t-shirt to wear and the two got changed.

After changing into normal era clothes, the girls walked out of Kagome's room to see the guys standing by the stairs waiting for them. Shippo had used his fox magic to transform himself into a boy while Inuyasha had changed into the clothes that they had gotten him the last time he had come to Kagome's time. Kagome had to show the half demon again how to button up the shirt. Miroku was wearing an old outfit that used to belong to her father; a pair of khaki coloured pants with a dark purple polo shirt.

"Those clothes look great on you Miroku." Kagome commented as she fixed his collar.

"Are you sure your mother won't mind me borrowing them?" Miroku asked.

"Oh not at all. We can always get you guys new clothes since I'm sure you will be spending some time here once in a while." Kagome smiled and led everyone down the stairs and out the door to head off to the nearby shopping centre.

o-o-o-o

"Miroku don't go on the street! That car was going to run you over."

"This is a light post. At night time, it turns on so people can see where they are going. No, you cannot climb it Shippo."

"This is a stop sign. It tells people in cars to stop so that people on the side walk can walk across the street safely.

Kagome felt like a tour guide leading a bunch of kids through the city. They stopped at every little thing the group came across on the road and Kagome had to explain what it was and what it was used for, followed by a series of questions the group had about the said item.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brightly. Everyone else in the neighbourhood was out and enjoying the sunlight, walking their dogs or riding their bikes along the street.

At one point a man walked by who was walking his dog. The dog looked up at Kilala who was being held in Sango's arms and barked at the cat demon which caused Kilala to bristle her fur and hiss. Something about the cat demon's hiss made the big dog whimper and whine, putting his tail between his legs and hide behind his owner. The man looked as the group with a questioning look but before he could ask a question Kagome pushed her friends along the side walk, trying to get away from the weird looks.

When they finally got to the shopping mall, the group was amazed by the building, all the sights and sounds and instantly wanted to pull Kagome in different directions to ask her about everything they saw. Kagome tried to keep up with all the questions as they went into the building to look at all the different stores.

"Slow down with the questions guys." Kagome laughed as she tried to keep her friends within sight. It wasn't the biggest mall around but it was difficult trying to keep four people from the Feudal Age from getting lost. "Don't worry, we can always come back another day and I can show you more stuff."

They looked around in several different stores; a gardening store, book store, chocolate boutique, sports centre store, shoe store and others – each store came with another series of questions from the bunch as well as some odd looks from people around the mall.

As they made their way through each store, they wound up in the middle of the mall were the food court was and Kagome decided it was time to take a bit of a break and get something to eat. They walked around each of the food kiosks and decided to try bento boxes from one of the restaurants. They sat down in a booth and ate their meals, the whole time asking countless questions about everything around them.

Kagome was in the middle of answering Miroku's question about the fake trees in the food court when she suddenly heard her name being shouted from across the food court. She turned to see three girls dressed in green and white school uniforms like hers rush up to her.

"Kagome?" All three girls asked together in their loud voices as they looked at everyone that was sitting with the raven haired girl. They were Yuka, Eri and Ayumi; three of Kagome's friends from school.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kagome asked, sweatdropping as she looked at her friends from school. Oh great – what was going to be her excuse this time? How was she going to explain why she wasn't at school and why she was at the mall instead with a bunch of people from another era? "Guys," She addressed her Feudal Era friends. "This is Eri, Yuka and Ayumi. I go to school with them." She then turned and introduced each of her Feudal friends by name but 'forgot' to say anything about where she knew them from.

Sango was about to say something when the three weird looking girls suddenly yanked Kagome out of her chair and dragged her over to them.

Kagome didn't know what was going on but all of a sudden she was pulled from her chair and suddenly three girls' faces in front of her, asking her a million questions a minute about her friends.

"Who's the silver haired guy?" Yuka asked as she looked over at Inuyasha.

"Yeah, he's really hot. "Eri said as she followed Yuka's glance.

Kagome couldn't help but roll her eyes; her friends would never change. "That's Inuyasha." She answered; watching as her friends looked over at the half demon sitting at the table – of course, Inuyasha was wearing a hat so they didn't know he was half demon. But she saw a look in the girls' eyes and knew that they were checking him out and she stepped in front of their vision. "He is my fiancé." She said as if telling them he wasn't theirs to look at.

It took the three girls a moment for what Kagome had said to sink in. But when it registered in their schoolgirl minds, they freaked and screamed "WHAT!" and caused several people in the food court to look over.

Well it was technically true right? Inuyasha said that in demon terms they were mates – so that was pretty much the human equivalent of fiancé.

The group from the past looked over at where Kagome's friends had dragged her over and watched as Kagome made her way back to their table, her weird friends following hot on her heels. While they chased after the raven haired girl, they threw question after question at her like 'why didn't you tell us?' and 'what about school?' and 'does her mother know?'

"Of course my mom knows!" Kagome answered when she sat back down at her seat with her friends. "I didn't tell you because I was busy and I knew you guys were going to react like this." She explained as she took a drink from her cup. What was with all of the questions today!

"How can you get married right now, Kagome?" Yuka asked, pulling up a chair to sit beside them at the booth, Eri and Ayumi following suit. "You're still in high school."

"I could always go to the community college by my house. I still don't know if I'll even pass this school year or not with all the days and tests I have missed." Kagome shrugged. But as she answered her friends, her mind was running through the small percentage of her even continuing school. What use would it be when she knew she wasn't going to be getting a real job in this time, she was most likely going to be living in Inuyasha's time and training to become a stronger priestess.

"But what about Hojo?" Eri added.

At the sound of that name, both Inuyasha and Kagome growled. Inuyasha remembered that boy from when he had visited Kagome at her home when she was sick and he knew that the boy really liked Kagome. But his quiet growl was cut off by the surprise of hearing Kagome's growl. He and the rest of the Feudal Era group stopped and looked at Kagome for they never thought they would ever hear her growl.

Kagome stood up, her chair being pushed out too fast that it fell over. People in the food court were looking at her now but she didn't care, she was too upset. "You know what? I don't care what you say. I'm sick and tired of you guys trying to set me on these stupid dates with Hojo. Stop trying to run my life." Kagome said as all of her friends looked up at her. "If Hojo were here right now, I'd tell him..."

"Tell me what?" A voice asked from behind her.

Everyone turned to see who the voice belonged to and the group from the past didn't need to be from Kagome's era to guess that the person behind Kagome was in fact this Hojo person. But Kagome was too angry to realize who it was. She spun around, her eyes closed in anger and let it all out. "I'd tell him that I'm getting married and I don't care how old I am or what anyone else thinks because I'm in love with him and that's that!"

Kagome's friends from the past just sat there and watched Kagome seethe in anger and her friends from school sat in their chairs with their mouths open in an 'oh' expression.

Kagome let out a content sigh, feeling much lighter from getting out her anger but when she opened her eyes she let out a choking sound as she realized who was standing in front of her. "H-Hojo!"

"Hi Kagome." He said calmly, showing a smile even though Kagome just sort of yelled at him. "I'm happy for you Kagome, getting married and everything. It's quite a surprise though; I just talked to you on the phone the other day and you mentioned a boyfriend and now you're getting married. That's great."

Kagome's mouth was moving but there were no words that came out at first. She didn't expect to have to tell everyone so quickly about her relationship status and to have just blurted out her feelings in front of the entire food court made her blush. "Umm…" She tried to say but couldn't think of anything.

"Well I just wanted to say that I'm happy for you Kagome. I hope you two are happy." The schoolboy smiled and then without saying anything else, said his goodbyes and walked off smiling and waving back at the group.

With Hojo coming up suddenly and leaving, the group was left in silence as the school girls were shocked out of their words. Kagome looked down at the table, her head starting to pound with the beginnings of a headache and her friends from the Feudal Era sat their quietly eating their bento boxes. Everyone else in the mall's food court had moved on from the school girl outbreaks and went back to eating and carrying on with their lives.

"Well I guess we should get going." Ayumi sighed, getting up from her chair with Yuka and Eri following her. "We're sorry to barge in on you like this Kagome, we'll be leaving now. It was nice meeting all of you." She smiled, pushing the two other girls away from the booth.

"Invite us to the wedding." Eri called over her shoulder as she was being pushed away.

"Keep in touch!" Yuka added as Ayumi forced them away.

And with that, the weird friends from Kagome's school were gone.

'_Memo to self: Thank Ayumi next time I see her.'_ Kagome thought to herself as she let out a long sigh and turned to her friends still sitting at the table. But when she looked at them, she saw that they were giving her weird looks. "What?"

"Kagome, I've never seen you that upset before. Not with Koga or Miroku – or even me." Inuyasha said where he sat.

"Hey why drag me into this?" The monk questioned.

"Nah, I still think you make her the most angry." Shippo said, popping another potato chip into his mouth.

Kagome looked down at Shippo and giggled but looked back up at everyone. "I don't know what came over me. They do that to me all the time; setting up dates with me and Hojo. He's a nice guy but I just don't like him that way and I never had time to go out anyway with all the traveling back and forth between times." She explained as she took another drink to keep herself from not getting angry again.

"Well now that your friends are gone, maybe we should head back to your house. You look kind of tired." Sango suggested. Kilala who had been hiding in a messenger style back that they had brought along.

"Maybe you're right. I can feel a headache coming on." Kagome signed, placing a hand on her forehead to try and keep the headache from coming.

And so the group got all their stuff together and left the mall. Along the walk back, Kagome's headache had gotten worse so Inuyasha carrier her on his back the rest of the way back to her house. He knew the way; all he had to was follow his nose. When they got back to the house, Kagome's family still wasn't home.

Kagome went into the kitchen and took some pain killers for her headache and went into the living room to lie on the couch. Sango and the others were out exploring the shrine grounds and she had explained to them enough times not to get into trouble so did wasn't too worried about leaving them for a little while.

She closed her eyes for a moment and then exhaustion suddenly took over her body. She could feel the pain killers working and soon she fell into her dream world.

o-o-o-o

The first thing Kagome registered when she woke up was her headache was gone. The second thing she realized was that when she moved, she wasn't in the same spot that she was when she fell asleep. She was in her room and saw that Shippo and Buyo were sleeping at the end of her bed.

Looking over at her corner table where her clock was, she saw that it was almost 6:00. Her family would be coming home soon.

Slowly getting up from her bed, she tiptoed to her door quietly. She didn't want to wake up the sleeping fox demon and Buyo. She opened her door very slowly but when it opened, it squeaked. She froze in spot as she looked over at Shippo, to see if the door had woken him up.

But the fox kit continued to sleep soundly, his tail wrapped around him as Buyo was curled up beside him. Kagome smiled and turned around, walking backwards out of her room to be able to close the door without a sound. As she closed the door, she continued to back up but stopped when she bumped into something. Turning around, she saw that it was Inuyasha that she had backed up into.

Inuyasha had changed back into his fire rat haori and pants and had his hands hidden in his sleeves. "I was just coming to check on you." The dog demon smiled down at the raven haired girl. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Kagome smiled up at Inuyasha. "Where are the others?"

"Sango and Miroku fell asleep on the couch shortly after I took you up to your room. When I took you up to your room, Shippo was already sleeping up there." Inuyasha explained as they walked down the stairs where Kagome saw the monk and demon slayer sleeping on the couch. "It's just been me and Kilala here." The dog demon said as the two tailed cat mewed from where she was perched on his shoulder.

Kagome smiled up at the kitty demon and led Inuyasha outside to the shrine courtyard. Before the dog demon could ask where they were going, they stopped under the shade of the God Tree.

"Why did you bring us out here?" Inuyasha questioned as he looked up at the tree. Kilala had gone off to chase a butterfly around the courtyard.

"I just wanted to enjoy the evening air before my family came home." Kagome said as she closed her eyes, feeling the warm evening wind blow through her hair. "Sorry about my friends earlier today at the mall. They're always like 'up in your face'."

Inuyasha just huffed which caused Kagome to look up at him. "You know, if you want to finish your school stuff you should." Inuyasha said as he looked up at the tree.

"What?" Kagome questioned, not really registering what the half demon was saying. During the four years of travelling in the Feudal Era, Inuyasha and Kagome had gotten into so many fights about the girl having to go back to her time to study for a test or exam.

"I know how important that school of yours is and your friends brought it up today at the mall." Inuyasha looked down at his mate. "You should at least finish your studies."

Kagome was quiet for a moment, contemplating the options. The school semester was going to be over in a few weeks which gave her some time to try and cram for the upcoming exams. She knew that her mom and grandfather were supportive of her travels to Inuyasha's time but she was sure they would be happy to see her at least finish highschool. "Maybe I'll give it a try." She mumbled to herself and was about to say something when she saw Inuyasha's ears perk up at the sound of a car. "That would probably be my family; we should go back to the house. We can talk about school later."

With that said, Kilala skipped back to the half demon and priestess and the couple walked back to the house to welcome the family home and introduce the newcomers to Kagome's era.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	16. Meeting the Family

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 16 – Meeting the Family

Kagome and Inuyasha walked back in the house to see Sango and Miroku awake and sitting on the couch talking about something. When the half demon and priestess entered the living room, little Shippo bounced out of nowhere and jumped into Kagome's arms.

"How's everyone doing?" Kagome asked as she smiled over at Sango who was sitting beside Miroku on the couch. "My family just got home, are you ready to meet them?"

"Of course." Miroku answered as he helped Sango off the couch and walked up to the other couple.

With that said, the door opened to Mrs. Higurashi holding a bunch of grocery bags. "We're home." She called as she entered the house.

Kagome set Shippo down on the table as they walked into the kitchen to greet her family. "Hi Mom," She called as she helped her mom through the door. "Hey Sota, Grandpa."

"Hi dear. I'm so glad to see you're home and safe." Mrs. Higurashi welcomed her daughter as she walked through the front door. "Are your other friends ok?" She asked as she hung up her coat and followed her daughter into the kitchen.

While his mom was talking with his big sister, Sota set Buyo on the floor so he could put his coat and shoes away. The fat cat walked into the dining room to go get some food from his food bowl. The fat cat didn't have anything else on his mind but food and didn't notice the other people in the room. But what made him stop in his track was when he saw another cat eating out of his food bowl. When he saw that the other cat was yellow, had red eyes and had two tails, the fat feline hightailed it out of the room and back to Sota.

"Whoa Buyo. I never thought you could run that fast." Sota laughed as she watched the fat cat run into the entrance room. He picked up the chubby feline and cuddled the frightening Buyo in his arms. "What's got you so spooked?"

Kagome led her family into the kitchen where her friends were waiting at the table. "Mom, Sota, Grandpa; these are my friends from the Feudal Era. This is Shippo the fox demon, Sango the demon slayer, Miroku the monk and Kilala who is Sango's cat demon companion." She introduced everyone. "And you already know Inuyasha." She smiled and then turned to her friends, "Guys, this is my family; my Mom, little brother Sota and Grandpa."

Mrs. Higurashi was the first to speak. "Welcome to our home everyone. Anyone who is a friend to Kagome is like family to us." She said happily as she looked at each of the members of the group at the table. "But I just have one question; how did you get to our time? I thought Inuyasha was the only one who could pass through."

Kagome turned to her family "We used the jewel to keep the Bone Eater's Well open and so that our friends could pass back and forth through our times." She explained.

"That's wonderful. I hope you have a wonderful time here. It's probably been quite a shock to see our time and all the things that are different. Stay as long as you like – this is your home too now." Mrs. Higurashi samiled and then excused herself to put away the groceries so that they wouldn't spoil.

While his mother left the kitchen, Sota walked into the kitchen and put Buyo down on the floor and turned to Shippo. "Do you like video games?" He asked the fox demon.

"Uh?" The fox demon questioned, tilting his head in confusion as he looked at Kagome' little brother.

"I didn't get a chance to explain everything to them so Shippo doesn't know what that is." Kagome walked up to her brother. She turned to Shippo with a soft smile on her face. "My brother likes to play games on the TV. Do you want to go with Sota so he can show you?"

The fox demon didn't say anything at first but then nodded and jumped off the table to follow Kagome's brother into the living room to play.

When Shippo and Sota were gone, Kagome's grandfather took his place at the table with the newspaper in hand. "So how did the battle turn out?" He asked as he opened the newspaper to the front page.

"It was tough but we won." Inuyasha announced from where he leaned against the wall in the dining room since all of the chairs were taken up. "Naraku's gone for good now."

"We got beat up pretty good though." Miroku said from where he sat at the table as he played with the rosary around his right hand. Even though the Wind Tunnel was gone, he still kept the purple glove and beads around his hand out of habit and of peace of mind.

"Well I'm sure the extra first aid kit came in handy." Mrs. Higurashi smiled from where she was stocking the refrigerator.

"Yup." Kagome nodded. She smiled as she looked around the room where her family was with her. Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala had been like her new family on the other side of the well and now thanks to the Shikon Jewel granting her wish she could have everyone together at the same time.

Mrs Higurashi smiled at everyone from where she was at the counter. "Well I'm sure everyone is plently hungry. How about I start some dinner?" But just as she was finished asking, Sota and Shippo who were suddenly the best of friends bounded into the kitchen asking for food.

"Sure, we can help out." Kagome smiled, looking over at Sango. "Would you like to help me and my mom with dinner?" She asked and smiled when the demon slayer nodded eagerly.

With dinner on its way, everyone branched out around the house doing their own thing until the food was ready. Miroku and Grandpa instantly connected and Grandpa was showing him around the shrine while talking about charms and other things while Inuyasha made himself comfortable on the couch in the living room watching Sota and Shippo play video games. The girls were busy in the kitchen making supper while Kilala sat on the floor playing with one of Buyo's cat toys.

After showing Sango around the kitchen, they set up the demon slayer with chopping vegetables while Kagome and her mother boiled the noodles and chopped the meat. As Mrs. Higurashi stirred the noodles, she turned to her daughter. "So have you and Inuyasha talked about the wedding since you were here?"

Even though she knew the subject was going to be coming up sooner or later and knew that it would be coming up a lot in the next little while but Kagome couldn't help but blush. She was still getting used to everything that happened less than a week and a half ago when she and Inuyasha had confessed their feeling for one another. "Umm.. no we haven't been able to think about it with the final battle with Naraku."

"Oh that's alright – we will have plenty of time to plan for the wedding." Her mother smiled as she stirred the noodles.

"Weddings." Kagome corrected as she looked over at the demon slayer who slowed in chopping the vegetables.. "We'll have two weddings to plan for; Sango and Miroku are getting married too."

"Oh how wonderful! Congratulations Sweety." Kagome's mother beamed as she turned to hug Sango who was blushing furiously.

"T-Thank you." Sango smiled and hugged Kagome's mother back and then turned back to cut up the rest of the vegetables.

Kagome's mother nodded, getting back to the noodles. "Oh this is all so exciting! We'll have so much fun planning the weddings." She clapped her hands like a school girl. "One more thing Kagome, are there any grandchildren on the way yet?"

Kagome dropped the spoon she was holding and instantly felt her face turn as red as a firetruck. "MOM!" She yelled in embarrassment.

o-o-o-o

"MOM!" Was heard all the way into the living room where Sota, Shippo and Inuyasha were playing video games.

Sota and Shippo were too busy playing video games that they didn't heard Kagome's outcry. But with Inuyasha's keen demon hearing he heard Mrs. Higurashi's question as well as Kagome's shriek. When he heard Mrs. Higurashi's question, he felt his own face heat up with blush but he couldn't help but laugh when he heard Kagome's answer.

o-o-o-o

About half an hour later everyone gathered around the now-extended table in the dining room for supper. There was a big bowl of udon noodles and soup as well as a salad on the side. Everyone ate happily as the group from the Feudal Era told the Higurashi family a little about themselves.

Shippo and Sota had instantly bonded as best buds and were sitting beside each other while Kagome's little brother told the fox demon about other video games they could play after supper. Grandpa was sitting on the other side of Sota and was deep in conversation with Miroku about the different types of charms and sutras that the monk used. Sango was sitting on the other side of Miroku and talking with Kagome's mother about different types of soups they could try and make while Kagome and Inuyasha sat on the other side of Mrs. Higurashi talking quietly. Even Buyo and Kilala had become friends, eating their cat food together on the floor and getting food scraps from those sitting at the table.

"So Kagome, what are you going to do about school?" Grandpa asked as he dabbed his mouth with his napkin.

Inuyasha stopped eating and turned to the girl sitting beside him as well as everyone else stopped to look at Kagome.

"Umm well I was thinking that maybe I should try and finish off the year. I mean, there's only about half a month left of the semester so maybe I can try and catch up." Kagome said as she looked down at her bowl.

"I think that's a wonderful idea dear." Kagome's mother smiled down at her daughter. "When are you thinking of having the wedding?" She questioned.

Kagome was stumped on the answer that everyone wanted to know. She tried to run dates through her head; the first time her and Inuyasha met – no that was on the same day as her birthday and that was pretty much half a year from now. She wracked her brain but couldn't come up with a date that stood out in her mind.

The pause in question to answer had turned into a long silence as Kagome couldn't think of a date. "Well let's think this through," Kagome's mother spoke up. "If you want to continue with school then your graduation would be at the end of this month – which gives you about two weeks of school left. And I'm sure that while you're going to school, you won't have any time to plan for the wedding. So if we dedicate the month after to planning the wedding, then you can get married after that."

Kagome looked at the calendar on the wall. The school semester ran until the end of March, with graduation at the end. Giving one month to plan the wedding would bring them into May. "Sounds alright with me." She said and turned to Inuyasha who just shrugged, saying he didn't have a certain date in mind.

With the new big family settled on helping Kagome reach the end of March and graduation from school, the finished up their supper and everyone helped clean the dishes. Once the dishes were done, everyone went off to doing their own thing again like before supper; Sota and Shippo running right back to the TV to play a different game and Miroku and Sango offering to help close the shrine with Grandpa.

Mrs. Higurashi went to make a few phone calls, wanting to get a head's start on the invitations for the wedding which left Kagome and Inuyasha in Kagome's room changing Inuyasha's bandages from the battle.

Inuyasha sat on the floor with his haori and undershirt off so Kagome could change the bandages that were covering the gashes on his chest.

"You're very quiet." Kagome spoke up as she rubbed the herbal mixture that Keade had given her on his back. "Is everything ok?"

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder at the girl sitting next to him. "I'm just thinking about everything really." He said in a sigh.

"Careful now, don't want to overwork your brain." Kagome giggled but then she saw that he had a very serious – almost sad look on his face and stopped laughing and leaned closer to him. "What's wrong?

"It's nothing. Just thinking about how things are going to change." The half demon said, bowing his head so his bangs were covering his eyes. "People in my time are going to look at you differently because you are with me. Well, you've already had it a couple times but it's going to get worse."

"I don't understand what you're saying." Kagome said, completely forgetting about the herbal mixture.

"My mother was hated by the humans she lived with. They knew that she loved a demon and because of that, she had me; a half demon who belonged nowhere." Inuyasha said. "And I've seen it a couple times already over the years you've traveled with me. I've heard what they've said."

Kagome suddenly knew where his thoughts were. He was thinking about his mother and how she was hated by humans for being with a demon and now he was thinking that the same was going to happen to her for being with him. "Inuyasha I don't care what other people say about me. I know it's been a horrible time for you having to feel like you don't belong anywhere but you don't have to feel like that anymore. You don't have to change for me; I love you as a half demon."

Inuyasha took a moment to gaze into Kagome's brown eyes and a small smile broke out on his lips. "Thanks Kagome." He whispered, leaning his head down so that their foreheads were touching.

Kagome knew from the way he sighed again that the thoughts bothering him were not going to be going away after just one conversation but she promised herself that she would work to make Inuyasha smile more each day and to put his worries to rest.

As Kagome finished changing Inuyasha's bandages, the half demon tried to suppress a yawn but failed. Kagome smiled down at the half demon and suggested that they head off to bed for the night. They went downstairs and made sure that Sango and Miroku were comfortable in the guest bedroom while Shippo bunked in Sota's room.

After everyone said goodnight to one another, Kagome and Inuyasha went back up to Kagome's room and got ready for bed. Kagome went to the bathroom to get changed in her pajamas while the half demon went and got comfortable in the bed.

When Kagome got back to her room she saw that Inuyasha was already in bed with his eyes closed. Quietly walking over to the bed, she climbed under the covers but couldn't help but squeak when she almost fell off the edge of the bed. Kagome's squeak made Inuyasha opened his eyes and looked at the girl with a questioning look.

"I guess my bed is kind of small huh?" Kagome laughed as she tried to get back under the covers. The raven haired girl gave another squeak as she felt Inuyasha's arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer to him very suddenly.

"I like this bed," Inuyasha mumbled as he held Kagome close to him. "It smells like you."

"Umm… I'm going to take that as a compliment." Kagome laughed.

"Well good – because it was." The half demon growled playfully as he gave Kagome a kiss on the forehead. After getting comfortable under the covers, a silence fell over the room as sleep caught up with the two and fell into a dream for the night.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


	17. Kagome's New Power

**The Storm**

By: AniuLonewolf

Chapter 17 – Kagome's New Power

The next morning Kagome woke up to the sun shining through her windows in her room. She opened her eyes to see Inuyasha's sleeping face right beside her. Kagome let out a giggle as she heard the sleeping half demon mumble something in his sleep. Reaching over, the raven haired girl gave her half demon a kiss on the cheek as was about to pull away when Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her in his sleep and pulled her close to his chest.

Kagome let out a small giggle as the half demon pulled her close, his head resting on her lap and she adjusted her sitting position so that her back was leaning against the bedrest. Looking down at the sleeping Inuyasha, she reached her hand up and started to gently message the white triangular ears on top of his head.

The sleeping dog demon mumbled something that wasn't understandable and Kagome saw his golden eyes open as he woke up.

"Good morning." Kagome smiled and moved her hand from his ears to run through his silver hair.

Inuyasha gave her a lazy half smile. "'Morning." He said sleepily as he yawned and rested his head back down on Kagome's lap.

"You must not be used to this;" Kagome laughed as she went to rubbing his ear again. "sleeping in every morning, not having to watch your back every moment during the night."

"It's nice, that's for sure." Inuyasha yawned again, leaning into Kagome's touch. But when he leaned against her hand she stopped messaging his ear and he gave a slight whine in disappointment. "Why did you stop? That felt good."

"Kagome! Inuyasha! Time for breakfast!" Sota banged on the closed door.

"We're coming." Kagome called out to her younger brother and then placed a hand on Inuyasha's head. "Don't worry; I'll give you another ear rub later." She smiled as the half demon got up from laying down. The two got up from the bed and went downstairs to join everyone else at the table to eat.

When the two made it down to the kitchen, everyone else was already sitting at the table. Sango, Miroku and Shippo were sitting at the table starring down at the breakfast food from the future while they were dressed in their Feudal Era clothes. Inuyasha and Kagome on the other hand were still in their pajamas; Kagome in a pink and green pants and tank top set and Inuyasha dressed in his fire rat pants.

As the two sat down at the table, Mrs. Higurashi handed them both a both of cereal and cup of milk. As everyone started to eat their breakfast and started conversations with one another at the table, Sota came through the doorway with a backpack on.

"Bye everyone." Kagome's little brother called out to the group as he walked over to the entrance room to put on his shoes and walked out the door with a final goodbye.

Shippo looked up at Kagome with a spoonful of cereal in his hand. "Where is Sota going?" The kitsune asked.

"Sota has to go to school – like what I did. He doesn't have as many tests as I did because he's in a younger class." Kagome explained but the topic of school brought the conversation from the night before. _'Guess I should be getting back to school myself.'_ She thought to herself.

"Why does he have to go to school but you're not going?" The little fox demon asked as if he could read her thoughts.

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha and Shippo and then turned to the rest of her family. "Actually Shippo brings up a good point, about me going back to school that is." She cleared her throat and put down her fork and turned to her mother. "I've decided that I will continue my last school year. I'll try to catch up with all I've missed and try to graduate with my class but I feel that it would be good to finish the school year."

"I think that is a wonderful idea dear." Mrs. Higurashi smiled at her spot at the table and with that, Kagome announced that she would return to school in two days' time.

o-o-o-o

After breakfast was done and the dishes were taken care of, everyone went off to do their own thing around the Higurashi household and shrine. Sango and Miroku went outside to enjoy the sunshine with Shippo and Kilala hung around to keep Mrs. Higurashi some company in the kitchen. Kagome left Inuyasha downstairs as she went upstairs to get changed.

But while she was in her room running a brush through her long black hair, she suddenly felt a presence around her. Putting her brush down, she looked around her room – it was empty; her freshly made bed with Tetsusaiga resting on the comforter. She opened her window and looked out into the courtyard – no there was nothing there out of the ordinary.

But the feeling wouldn't go away. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the feeling. It felt like a demon was somewhere close but it was faint and fuzzy like there was a barrier blocking it.

Inuyasha was sitting on the couch when he heard Kagome walk down the stairs. The half demon was about to turn to the priestess and say something about how Miroku almost hit on some high school girls that visited the shrine when he saw that there was a troubled expression on Kagome's face. "What's wrong?" He asked as he got up from the couch and walked over to Kagome.

"I sense something." Kagome said, her eyes not meeting the half demon in front of her as she tried to hone in on where the feeling was coming from. "I sense a demon but – it's different somehow."

"A demon?" Inuyasha repeated in question as he placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Are you sure? I don't smell anything around here."

"No… I don't know." Kagome's eyebrows furrowed in frustration as she continued to try and concentrate on the feeling. "Come outside with me." She said and grabbed her mate's hand and took him outside before he could say anything else.

When they got outside they ran into Sango and Miroku who were talking happily with each other. But then when they saw the anxious looks on Kagome and Inuyasha's face, their conversation died off and asked what was wrong. After hearing that Kagome sensed a demon somewhere, they monk and demon slayer went to looking around the shrine.

Kagome felt the presence grow stronger when they had left the house and she went off in a hurried walk without anyone following her. She closed her eyes and concentrated, letting her feet take her where she could feel the mysterious shiver.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself at the doors of the well house. She felt it again but this time it was a heavy feeling that made her stomach flip-flop. They hadn't been over to the other time since the final battle with Naraku and she was worried about the other demons that would be coming out of hiding due to Naraku's death.

"Inuyasha!" She called out to her mate while she stood in front of the closed doors of the well house.

The half demon heard Kagome's call out to him from where he stood at the house and jumped into the air, landing beside his mate in a second. "What? What?" He questioned, pulling Kagome close to him. "Where is it?"

"It's not here." She whispered, placing a hand on his chest. "But I can sense it stronger over here. I think it might be coming from the well."

Inuyasha sniffed the air as he let Kagome go. "Kagome, I don't smell anything. Are you sure?"

Kagome was getting frustrated with this mystery and with a huff, she grabbed Inuyasha's hand and pulled him into the well house. The half demon didn't know what was going on but before he could say anything, they were engulfed in the blue light of time travel and found himself at the bottom of the well but in the Feudal Era.

"Don't you think we should have told Sango and Miroku where we were going?" Inuyasha questioned gruffly as he helped Kagome out of the well. "And did it ever cross your mind that I would need Tetsusaiga if we were going into a fight? Not to mention I'm half naked."

Kagome ignored Inuyasha's questions as she brought up questions of her own. "The demon I sense must have been on this side of the well? That's impossible." She mumbled to herself as they made their way to the village.

Inuyasha let out an irritated growl as he noticed Kagome wasn't paying attention to him. "Hello, Kagome. I'm talking to y-." But he was cut off by Kagome's hand clapping over his mouth.

"Shh. Do you hear that?" Kagome asked as she looked towards the tree line where the forest ended and the village started. "I can sense the demon's aura very clearly now. But I can hear people. They're in the forest." Kagome said, still looking up.

Inuyasha stopped and concentrated on everything around him. A growl was heard from his closed lips as he took Kagome's hand off of his mouth and sniffed the air. "I smell blood. The village must be under attack."

Nothing else was said as Kagome climbed onto the half demon's back and Inuyasha ran off towards the village. When they arrived at the village, the sight in front of them explained everything that Inuyasha smelt and Kagome heard.

Inuyasha stopped to assess the situation as he let Kagome slide off his back and back to her feet. There was a centipede demon attacking the village, roaring loudly and smashing the huts into splinters.

With Kagome on her own feet, Inuyasha crouched into an attack position and reached to his left side but then realized he didn't have his sword. "Damn it." He growled as he cracked his knuckles.

"The jewel!" The centipede roared as it lifted his head up, its millions of legs reaching and twitching about. "I want the jewel!"

"Does this remind you of something?" Kagome raised her eyebrow as she watched the insect demon scuttle around the village. This type of demon was the very first she had run into on her very first day in the Feudal Era. Mistress Centipede had attacked her, forcing her to wake Inuyasha up from his tree-bound spell to save the village.

"Yup." Inuyasha smirked remembering the first night he met Kagome. "And it wasn't that hard to get rid of that bug." He grunted as he kicked off into the air in a jump, his claws flexed and ready for attack. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" He yelled as he dragged his claws down into the flesh of the demon.

The centipede's body was torn to shreds at Inuyasha's claws and the freshly dead body fell to the ground with a thundering boom.

Inuyasha landed on his feet and flicked his hand to get most of the blood off of his claws. He looked around at the damage the centipede had inflicted on the village as the frightened people poked their heads out from their hiding places to see if it was safe.

"Well that wasn't too hard for you to get rid of." Kagome said as she walked up to the half demon and offered him a handkerchief to clean his hands. "Man, that demon sure did some damage." She stated as she too looked around at the wounded huts.

"Ah thank you Inuyasha for getting rid of the demon." A voice said from behind them and the two turned around to see the elderly priestess Keade walking up to them. She was holding her one arm close to her where blood had stained her white priestess outfit.

"Keade, are you alright?" Kagome asked as she walked up to the old priestess to see if she could do anything to help the wound.

"Hai child I will be fine." The old priestess said, showing that she only had a small cut on her arm and a little one on her forehead. "It was a good thing ye came when ye did. We were having a bit of difficulty with this demon."

"That's just it," Inuyasha spoke up as he crossed his arms over his bare chest, looking over at the two priestesses. "Kagome said that she sensed something while in her time."

"That's right. I sensed a demon's aura but it wasn't in my house - or outside. I could feel it coming from the well so we jumped in. Then I could feel the demon's aura coming from the village." Kagome explained as she looked between the half demon and Keade. "But how can I feel a demon's presence from my time?"

"Hai child. Ye priestess powers are growing stronger." Keade explained as the three of them walked to her hut to dress her wounds. "Ye are part of both worlds now so ye can now sense what is going on in the other world even if you're not there." The old priestess explained.

Inuyasha and Kagome looked over at one another with surprised expressions on both of their faces. "So if Kagome is in her time, she can still sense what is going on in this time?" The half asked, trying to make sense of what kind of new powers Kagome had now.

"Hai."

"Cool." Kagome said simply, her new powers not sinking in right away. "So now I can be in my time and still know if the village is safe or not. And if I'm here, I can tell if my family is safe." The raven haired girl smiled at her mate before sitting down beside Keade to help dress her wounds.

o-o-o-o

A couple minutes after helping bandage Keade's wounds Kagome and Inuyasha said goodbye to the old priestess and made their way back to Kagome's era.

Just before they were going to jump into the Bone Eater's Well, Kagome stopped and turned to the half demon. "Jump in first. I want to try something."

Inuyasha gave Kagome a weird look but didn't argue and jumped into the well, engulfed by the pale blue light as he went to the other time.

Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated on her thoughts and with little difficulty she suddenly felt Inuyasha's presence. But just like before there was a sort of fogginess about the feeling. Judging from her mini experiment, she figured that the fogginess was due to the powers of the Bone Eater's Well and Inuyasha being on the other side of the well.

With her short experiment a success, Kagome opened her eyes and jumped through the well and landed on the ground in her time. Looking around, she saw that Inuyasha was standing beside her, waiting for her to return back to her own time.

"Well?" Inuyasha raised an eye brow at his mate.

"I felt your presence on the other side of the well." Kagome explained as she got onto his back and the half demon jumped out of the well.

"Kagome! Inuyasha! Where did you two go?" Sango called to the couple as the demon slayer and the monk ran up to the well house. "You disappeared without telling us – did you think the demon?"

"Yeah we found it." Inuyasha answered as Kagome got off of his back and the four walked back to Kagome's house. While they walked to the house, Kagome explained to Sango and Miroku how she had developed new powers to sense presences while being in the different eras.

When they got in the house Mrs. Higurashi greeted them with some lunch and the two couples sat down in the living room and Kagome decided to put in a movie for the group to watch.

Kagome went over to the cabinet and picked out a few movies she thought her friends would like. Putting them on the table for the group to pick from, she went in to the kitchen to make some popcorn and when she went back in the other room, the put the chosen movie in and sat down beside Inuyasha.

"Oh, just so you all know – the monsters on the TV are not real so I don't want anyone going to attack the screen alright." She said, mostly looking over at the half demon beside her.

Inuyasha looked down at the raven haired girl beside him and huffed but didn't say anything. The movie played and everyone watched quietly. Of all the movies the group could choose from they picked a horror and even though it was board daylight outside, when a scary part came up on the movie Kagome jumped a bit and Inuyasha couldn't help but let out a growl at the monsters on the screen. But after a while the half demon realized the monsters were only in the box and quieted down.

Throughout the movie, Kagome kept fidgeting where she was sitting on the couch. It wasn't the movie that was bothering her; she had seen this one particular film several times. She had a kink in her shoulder and the way she was trying to sit was making it worse. No matter which way she tried to sit, it was still uncomfortable but she suddenly felt Inuyasha place his hand on her shoulder, pulling her down towards him. She smiled at the half demon and finally found a comfortable spot when she laid her head on his chest, curling up beside him on the couch.

When they were almost done the movie, the phone suddenly rang out from the hallway. No one was suspecting the phone to ring and they were so involved in the TV that when it rang, the group jumped in surprise. Kagome jumped up from the couch and ran over to the hallway to answer who was on the other line.

"He-Hello? This is Higurashi residence." She answered.

"Hey Kagome, it's me Sota." Her little brother's voice was heard on the other side of the line.

"Sota? Is something wrong?" Kagome asked as she looked back in the living room and saw Sango and Miroku jump at what was going on in the movie and saw that Inuyasha was chuckling at their reaction. "Where are you calling from?"

"I'm calling from the payphone by the school, wondering if you could ask Mom if I could go over to Satoru's after school." Her little brother answered.

"Hang on, I'll go ask her." Kagome covered the end of the phone and started to walk down the hallway when something tugged on the phone in her hand. Looking back, she growled quietly to herself. "Darn cord." She poked her head around the corner into the living room. "Inuyasha, could you come here for a moment?"

The half demon looked up from the television and got up from the couch, walking over to the girl in the hallway. "What's up?" He asked with a questioning look on his face.

"Would you be able to ask my Mom something? Ask her is Sota can go to Satoru's house after school." Kagome explained, still holding the phone in her hand.

Inuyasha nodded and didn't waste any time in heading outside into the shrine courtyard to look for Kagome's Mom. It wasn't hard to find her, his demon senses were keen and he found her in the storage shed cleaning with Kagome's grandfather.

"Um, Mrs. Higurashi? Kagome asked me to ask you something." The half demon said as he helped Kagome's mother with a heavy box before continuing what he had to say. "Sota is on that umm thing you talk on?"

"The phone?" Mrs. Higurashi questioned and got a nod from the half demon.

"He wants to go over to Satoru's house after school."

"Oh yes I'm sure that is fine. Thank you for coming out to ask me." Mrs. Higurashi smiled but as the half demon was about to take his leave, she stopped him for a moment. "Oh and Inuyasha? You don't have to call me Mrs. Higurashi, call me Mom if you want or Nodoka. We're family now." She smiled.

Inuyasha stuttered in his step for a moment as Mrs. Higurashi statement of being family. He hadn't called someone 'Mom' in so many years, not since his mother had passed away and the idea made the half demon become quiet in thought as he smiled at the woman before him and turn back to the house.

Kagome saw Inuyasha come back into the house and watched him come up to her, saying that her mother gave her brother permission to go to his friends. Kagome passed on the message and hung up the phone with her brother before turning to the half demon beside her.

"Are you ok?" The raven haired priestess questioned, placing a hand on Inuyasha's upper arm. "You seem distant."

"It's nothing, I'm alright." Inuyasha answered, offering a smile down at his mate. "Your mother just brought up an interesting thought." He saw Kagome tilt her head to the side in question. "She said to call her Mom because we're family now."

Kagome was quiet for a moment as she looked up at Inuyasha. "You don't have to call her Mom if you don't want to. I understand that you were very close with your mother and if it makes you uncomfortable..."

"No, no it doesn't make me feel like that." Inuyasha cut her off, smiling down at her again. "Your mother has been so understanding about everything that has happened in the last four years. I miss my mother but I finally feel like I have a family."

Kagome's heart skipped a beat when she heard Inuyasha's words and it was all she could do to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. Over the last four years, there were only a handful of times where the two of them could talk about how they felt about one another and it warmed Kagome's heart to hear that Inuyasha felt like part of her family. "You are part of my family now." She wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug, resting her head on his chest. "I love you."

Inuyasha was quiet for a moment, absorbing the feel of Kagome in his arms. "I love you too, Kagome." His mind was still on what had just happened just days ago, Naraku was finally gone and they didn't have to worry about anything anymore. They had their whole lives to look ahead to. The three words that Kagome whispered echoed in his ears as he buried his nose in Kagome's hair, loving her scent. "We are a family."

* * *

><p>Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi<p>

The Storm by AniuLonewolf


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